Les secrets de Napoléon

 

From the publishers:
 
Are the manias and the faults of an exceptional man simply banal?
 
The glorious epic life of an obscure second lieutenant who, in just a few years, built an immense Empire could surely interest even the most closed of minds. And yet, despite the many books on the subject, Napoleon remains a multiple enigma. Who was he really? Pierre Branda reveals the man behind the myth – a man with his own intuitions and contradictions. The burden of malevolent gossip about the identity of Napoleon's father; the uncontrollable misogyny of a lovelorn and lovesick man; the continual attention to detail, which became positively obsessive when it came to the Imperial Household; the consummate skill in manipulation and secrecy which made him an idolized and feared leader… Flamboyant, secretive, impetuous, paranoid… Pierre Branda shows the multiple facets of Napoleon the man. Are the manias and the faults of an exceptional man simply banal?
 
 
Pierre Branda is historian and Section Head of Capital, Collection and Real Estate at the Fondation Napoléon. He has published many works on Napoleon I, including Napoléon et ses hommes. La Maison de l'empereur (2011).
 
Contents:
– Introduction
– Une rumeur persistante
– Parfums de femmes
– Un drôle de mariage
– Mariage pour un trône
– Un code misogyne ?
– Une soeur trop proche ?
– Grandeurs et bouts de chandelles
– Les caisses secrètes de l'Empereur
– Une popularité en or
– Les coulisses d'une miracle financier
– Contrebande impériale
– Un ennemi qui vous veut du bien
– Une habile propagande
– Diviser pour échouer
– l'Empereur dans sa bulle
– Travailler au secret
– Une garde invisible
– Une bouche empoisonnée ?
– Dans l'intimité de l'Empereur
– L'autopsie du grand homme
– Un dépressif chronique ?
– Chronologie

In French