Categories: Biography: Historical, Political & Military European History Social & Cultural History Napoleonic Wars Political Leaders & Leadership Gardens (descriptions, History Etc)


Napoleon : A Life in Gardens and Shadows
5 (1 rating by Goodreads)
Paperback English
By (author) Ruth Scurr


Glorious... Scurr is one of the most gifted non-fiction writers alive Simon Schama, Financial Times

A revelatory portrait of Napoleon written for our own time, exploring his love of nature and the gardens that gave his revolutionary life its light and shade.

Napoleons gardens range from his childhood olive groves in Corsica, to Josephines menageries in Paris, to the walled garden of Hougoumont at the battle of Waterloo, and ultimately to St Helena, where he could sit and scan the sea in his final months.

In this innovative biography, Ruth Scurr follows the dramatic trajectory of Napoleons life through the land he cultivated and that offered him retreat from the manifold frustrations of war and politics. Seen through the eyes of those who knew him in the shade of his gardens, Napoleon emerges a giant figure made human - both as the Emperor hunting for glory and the man in an old straw hat, leaning on his spade.

Immensely satisfying and captivating... Charming and intelligent Andrew Roberts, TLS

Grippingly original The Times

A delight to read Daily Telegraph

* A Book of the Year in The Times, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Sunday Telegraph and History Today *

Winner of a Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award 2022


Product details

Format Paperback | 400 pages
Dimensions 130 x 198 x 37mm | 346g
Publication date 05 May 2022
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Imprint Vintage
Publication City/Country London, United Kingdom
Language English
ISBN13 9781784704032
Bestsellers rank 752,666