Napoleon’s career was amazing. The book was 1,095 pages long, but none of the battle descriptions took more than 10 pages. There were tons of battles, in Italy, in Austria, in Italy again, in Egypt, in Austria again, in Spain, in Germany and Poland, in Russia, in France and finally in Belgium. I very quickly lost track of individual battles and campaigns, but I do have a good overview. The maps were pretty good, although arrows for troop movements on the larger campaign maps would have been helpful.

It was not terribly technical, but it was a serious work without humor or anecdote. Even when in the mood, I couldn’t handle more than 100 pages in a day. Still, I’m glad I read it.