The first one-volume biography written after the publication of more than thirty thousand letters of Napoleon Bonaparte, which forced historians to radically reconsider their views on his character and aspirations. Finally, we see the great commander and statesman as he really was: a versatile, capable of simultaneously solving many problems, a man with exceptional determination and at the same time an amazing willingness to forgive his unfaithful wife Josephine, and his political opponents, and even enemies . “Napoleon owed his attractiveness not only to his victories, but also to the fact that he brought peace to a people tired of war.” Andrew Roberts, a renowned British historian and biographer who is equally well versed in both political and military history, visited 53 of Napoleon's 60 battlefields, discovered crucial new documents in the archives, and even made a long journey by sea to St. Helena. The result of all this work is a biography worthy of its hero: authoritative, insightful and beautifully written by an outstanding specialist. “In many respects, Napoleon represented the last and greatest of the enlightened European despots of the 18th century, who began to apply rationalism to government and to improve the lives of his subjects. Goethe said about Napoleon that “the light that illuminated him did not go out for a minute... He was constantly in a state of enlightenment.” Napoleon was the Enlightenment on horseback.”