Audiobook9 hours
The Life of Napoleon volume 1
Written by William Hazlitt
Narrated by Robert Bethune
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
William Hazlitt is one of the foremost writers of the English language. His fame as a critic, essayist and social commentator ranks with the likes of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. He considered his justly famous Life of Napoleon as his most important work.
In this, the first volume of the work, William Hazlitt devotes the vast majority of the work to the vital historical background: Napoleon's family, the history of Corsica, where he grew up, as it affected him and his family, and above all the history of the French Revolution up to the siege of Toulon: the National Assembly, the Constitution, the invasion of France by the First Coalition, the execution of Louis XVI, the Convention, and the Reign of Terror. While this approach has the disadvantage of spending the vast majority of this volume on subjects other than Napoleon himself, it has the great advantage of leaving the reader thoroughly versed in the historical setting that framed Napoleon's life. When he emerges onto the stage of history, at the siege of Toulon, we know exactly what settting he is stepping into.
Hazlitt was a life-long admirer of Napoleon and of the French Revolution, but his admiration was not blind. He shows the full extent of the French Republic's descent into the madness of the Reign of Terror and seeks the cause of it in the natural response of human beings to a toxic mix of fear and temptation, in a setting of political and institutional chaos inside the country, combined with existential threats of invasion and repression from all the major powers of Europe. His analysis is both passionate and clear-sighted. While a firm champion of human rights, human liberty, and human progress, he does not flinch from a clear presentation of the horrors human nature can commit.
The Life of Napoleon was originally published in four volumes in 1828-1830, not long before Hazlitt's death. It was later republished in a limited edition of six volumes by the Grolier Society. This audiobook is based on that edition.
In this, the first volume of the work, William Hazlitt devotes the vast majority of the work to the vital historical background: Napoleon's family, the history of Corsica, where he grew up, as it affected him and his family, and above all the history of the French Revolution up to the siege of Toulon: the National Assembly, the Constitution, the invasion of France by the First Coalition, the execution of Louis XVI, the Convention, and the Reign of Terror. While this approach has the disadvantage of spending the vast majority of this volume on subjects other than Napoleon himself, it has the great advantage of leaving the reader thoroughly versed in the historical setting that framed Napoleon's life. When he emerges onto the stage of history, at the siege of Toulon, we know exactly what settting he is stepping into.
Hazlitt was a life-long admirer of Napoleon and of the French Revolution, but his admiration was not blind. He shows the full extent of the French Republic's descent into the madness of the Reign of Terror and seeks the cause of it in the natural response of human beings to a toxic mix of fear and temptation, in a setting of political and institutional chaos inside the country, combined with existential threats of invasion and repression from all the major powers of Europe. His analysis is both passionate and clear-sighted. While a firm champion of human rights, human liberty, and human progress, he does not flinch from a clear presentation of the horrors human nature can commit.
The Life of Napoleon was originally published in four volumes in 1828-1830, not long before Hazlitt's death. It was later republished in a limited edition of six volumes by the Grolier Society. This audiobook is based on that edition.
More audiobooks from William Hazlitt
The Life of Napoleon volume 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Table-Talk (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life of Napoleon volume 5 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to The Life of Napoleon volume 1
Related audiobooks
The Glory and the Sorrow: A Parisian and His World in the Age of the French Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Popular History of France from the Earliest Times vol 4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoirs of Napoleon Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cape Cod Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Italian War of Independence: The History and Legacy of the Revolutions that Started the Process of Italy’s Unification Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNapoleon: A Concise Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life of Napoleon volume 4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life of Napoleon volume 6 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Constitution: French Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life of Napoleon volume 3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConfucian Analects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spirit of the Laws Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution of 1688, Volume 1B Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Universal Man: The Lives of John Maynard Keynes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Education of Henry Adams Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Upheaval Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Young Titan: The Making of Winston Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bastille: The French Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Age of Napoleon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frost Programme 1967 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoirs of My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reflections on the Revolution in France Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Island Race Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Selected House of Commons Speeches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of the Thirty Years War, Volume 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Guillotine: French Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Traveller in War-Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLives of the Presidents Told in Words of One Syllable Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
European History For You
The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The War on the West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History that Inspired Game of Thrones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Napoleon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chernobyl 01:23:40: The Incredible True Story of the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of American Cemeteries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Reformation: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Teutonic Knights: A Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Mythology: An Extensive Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Worship, Rituals and Beliefs of Ancient Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Templars: The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Life of Napoleon volume 1
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
2 ratings0 reviews