The History of Napoleon Buonaparte

This 1829 biography emerged from a remarkable historical moment: Lockhart wrote while Napoleon's memory still burned in European consciousness, while veterans who had served under the Emperor still walked the streets. The biography traces the Corsican-born conqueror from his island childhood through French military schools, the Revolutionary chaos, and the meteoric rise that stunned the world. Lockhart, a celebrated literary figure known for his satirical wit and biographical work on Walter Scott, brings literary craft to his portrait of Napoleon, offering a critical assessment of the man's character, ambitions, and the forces that shaped him. The result is neither pure hagiography nor hostile polemic, but something more valuable: a contemporary witness's attempt to understand how one man became the arbiter of Europe's fate. The spelling of the title as 'Buonaparte' signals Lockhart's scholarly ambitions, his desire to examine the man beneath the myth. For readers interested in how history was written in the Romantic era, or those seeking to understand the formation of Napoleonic legend, this remains a compelling primary source.