Is Philip Dwyer's biography the number 1 book on Napoleon?
Roberts gets a lot of respect around here but I haven't read either.
Chandler is a more specific and advanced text if you want to know more about Napoleon's actual battles, with diagrams, troop counts, etc.
>>7974431
got anything to say about dwyer?
>>7974468
Never read him but I have a buddy who loved his "path to power." Apparently it's a great intro to the non-military aspects of Napoleon, and focuses on his politics and then his propaganda.
>>7975137
so would you say dwyer for politics and chandler for military and robert for an overall view?
>>7974265
i think vincent cronin has the best biography on Napoleon
>>7975909
Again I haven't read Dwyer or Roberts, but yes that's the vibe I get, considering that Roberts is known for having including in his studies something like 10,000 of Napoleon's letters.
Chandler is undeniably the authority on the military aspect. You can find an ebook no problem, but you will quickly find that you NEED a print copy, because the diagrams are frequent, crucial, and painfully small and inaccessible in the ebook. Used ones are about $40-50 on ebay/abebooks.
For what it's worth I intend to read Roberts before Dwyer. Absolutely do not read Chandler as your first step for Napoleon. I made that mistake and will probably have to reread it after gaining some proper context.
>>7974265
If I had the money I would buy this one:
https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/film/all/04973/facts.stanley_kubricks_napoleon_the_greatest_movie_never_made.htm