Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75381 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-08-10
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 50 minutes

Amazon.com
The most fabled military leader of all time is chronicled in this episode of the A&E Biography series. Born to a Corsican family of shaky financial means, young Napoleon decided upon a military career as a child, winning a scholarship to a French military academy. His meteoric rise shocked not only France but all of Europe, and his military conquests threatened the stability of the world. Making copious use of contemporary drawings, paintings, and maps, and featuring interviews with military historians who specialize in studying Napoleon, the great commander is thoughtfully rendered as an enigmatic figure whose great military triumphs masked a deeply troubled personal life. His marriage to Josephine was tumultuous (and was at times the cause of his being the subject of ridicule), and his fanatical work habits, not to mention a legendary temper, made him a notoriously difficult personality. His insatiable appetite for glory and conquest led him to overcome most obstacles in his path, yet his supreme confidence in himself eventually led him to his defeat at Waterloo and his exile on a desolate island. This is a lively, informative, and entertaining look at one of the most influential figures in all of history. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

A Great Military Commander

The biography of Napoleon gives an account of the life and times of this remarkable man, from his early youth to his final days. This is a good representation of the highlights of his life. Although some important details are missing, this is a good explanation of his achievements and failures.

Napoleon rose very quickly in the army, his obvious brilliance having been noticed and having been critical for the success of the French armies against monarchist forces trying to destroy the French revolution and restore the monarchy. Napoleon was clearly a great military genius and a very dynamic personality. He had an incredible drive to succeed with a charismatic personality. His meteoric rise to the top is impressive.

I learnt of the incredible energy that the great emperor had. For example, he was directly involved in many details of government and at times dictating correspondence until his secretaries collapsed from exhaustion.

Napoleon had a deep and genuine affection for Josephine, often writing her detailed and interesting letters from the battle front. Since she could not bear him male heirs to the throne, Napoleon had to divorce her and married someone else.

The biography captures the grandeur of Napoleon, his zeal for war, his love for Josephine and his limitless energy that drove him beyond what even he could achieve.

One of Napoleon's greatest failures was the invasion of Russia with a huge army, which was consumed by the vast Russian landmass and atrocious weather.

A well produced account of this spectacular man that is well worth viewing by anyone with an interest in history or the Napoleonic wars.

The Great Napoleon
I hail Napoleon Bonaparte as having been a truly recgonized conqueror of modern times. A&E'e Biographly did help to clear- up some points, that I had failed to fully understand during my reading about him. I was hoping to learn more about his General's i.e was it true about their betrayal of him? All in all, I think it was a well produce portrait, of one of the three greatest men in all the history of this world.

bevil

It's for teenagers, not for adult history fans.
See, I'm a history fan. I know everything French. I feel frustrated when I finished watching this video. It's not much more than some still pictures with no professional-level narration. It's a cheap show, not history. Can't believe it's from A&E. However, I understand. It could be an issue of money. Fund they have doesn't allow the makers of this movie to replay the history in a thorough and precise way. Sigh ... Who will pay for history study nowadays? None.