Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume III.

Walter Scott, the novelist who practically invented historical fiction, brings the same narrative verve to this monumental biography of Napoleon. Volume III captures a pivotal moment: the collapse of the brief peace after the Treaty of Amiens and the slide back into war between France and England. But this is more than a chronicle of diplomatic failure. Scott examines the psychology of two powers locked in mutual suspicion, showing how Napoleon's imperial ambitions collided with British fears of continental domination. The text also turns to the colonial sphere, tracing the disastrous French attempt to reclaim St. Domingo and the revolt led by Toussaint L'Ouverture. Written by a master storyteller in 1827, when the Napoleonic wars still loomed over European memory, this volume offers both granular political analysis and the sweeping drama of an empire at war with itself and the world.