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Tarbell writes this biography in such a manner that no matter what Napoleon did throughout his years he did it for the right reason. Tarbell’s scope on the book was that napoleon was a great military leader and he wants to show the rest of the world why. He accounts for everything napoleon single handily did and what he did with his country, France. A Life of Napoleon Bonaparte is a great biography because the way it was written. Tarbell has so much information on Bonaparte is might seem as though he lived everyday at Bonaparte’s side. Tarbell especially goes into extreme detail when Napoleon had to surrender to England. In 1803 a war broke out between France and England. The English had many allies including Russia, Austria, and Sweden. Napoleon had pretty much no struggle beating Austria and Russia. He won the battle at Austerlitz, which sent both the Austrians and Russians back home. “After maneuvering for a few days I fought a decisive battle yesterday. I defeated the combined armies commanded by the emperors of Russia and Germany. Their force consisted of eighty thousand Russians and thirty thousand Austrians. I have made forty thousand prisoners, taken forty flags, one hundred guns, and all the standards of the Russians Imperial Guard (Pp. 169). Tarbell included this quote to show people how confident Napoleon was. He said that statement with a lot of confidence knowing that he was the best military strategist at that time. But when he finally decided to invade the British army it was already to late. The English, under the leader by the name of Adam Horatio Nelson, beat France at Trafalgar on October 21, 1805. Tarbell explains how after the loss to England was a huge turning point in Bonaparte’s life. Napoleon was also known as somewhat of a lover. He was married to Josephine de Beauharnais and lived with her until 1809 when he divorced her. Only one year later he remarried a lady by the name of Marie Louise who at that time was the daughter of the Austrians emperor. “Marie Louise in marrying Napoleon had felt that she was a kind of sacrificial offering, for she had naturally a deep horror of the man who had caused her country so much woe; but her dread was soon dispelled, and she became very fond of her husband (Pp.227). It is evident to see why Tarbell included this in the biography. To many people the thought of marrying someone who has caused you and your whole country so much pain is almost ridiculous. But as oddly as it sounds it worked out for the best. With Madame Louise he got his first son, whom of which he wanted for many years; he named his son King of Rome. Soon after that Napoleon was his surrender to the English, which in return got him exiled to St Helena where he lived the remained of his life. The great thing about Tarbell’s biography is that he explains in detail about a specific occurrence, which took place through out Napoleons life. But to even top all of the information that Tarbell includes in the book he also includes hundreds of quotes which help the reader understand what actually was going on. The quotes were mostly said by Napoleon himself but there were others, which were from his associates, wives, enemies, and the basic commoners. The quotations are what make the book presentable in a manner that almost any reader could comprehend. In the biography A life of Napoleon Bonaparte there is a section of the book that underlines the life and struggles that Bonaparte’s first wife Josephine de Beauharnais encounter during and after her marriage with Napoleon. Tarbell includes just as much detail about Napoleon as he does with Josephine. Tarbell goes into depth about how Napoleon went to Italy and Josephine went Milan. While her husband was fighting a war in Italy she was living the live of a princess in Milan. Napoleon would write her letters daily asking her to reply and let him know she was okay but she still would refuse to do so. Although the two were married it seemed evident that the two wanted different things. “At a gathering of the magnitude and splendor of this at Erfurth it would have been fitting that the Empress be present, but Napoleon did not deem it wise for her to leave France. That Napoleon meant to indicate by leaving her at home that his decision to have a divorce was taken and that this was the beginning of the separation is not clear, though it is certain that the subject was much in his mind at Erfurth (Pp. 405). This is a quotation which helps people understand what napoleon was thinking while he was off fighting. Although he was married and still writing letters to her it is easy to see that things were not going to work. Tarbell explains how the majority of Europe loved Josephine and though of her as a great queen. So it is easy to see why this biography was written so well, and that is because of his intent to show both sides of the marriage and to show what Napoleon and his wife did throughout their lives. “Napoleon was the first emperor of the French, one of the most celebrated personages in the history of the West. He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code; the prototype of later civil-law codes; reorganized education; and established the long-lived Concordat with the papacy (Encyclopedia Britannica). Ida Tarbell did an excellent job on writing A life of Napoleon Bonaparte because of his usage of quotations and his extent of knowledge that he must have researched in order to write such an in depth biography. Bibliography: Works Cited Tarbel, Ida. A Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. New York: McClure, Philips & Co., 1901. Pp. 485. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Napoleon I. http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=115619&sctn=1 Word Count: 1088
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