Search results for ""Author Philip Dwyer""

Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power was neither inevitable nor smooth; it was full of mistakes, wrong turns and pitfalls. During his formative years his identity was constantly shifting, his character ambiguous and his intentions often ill-defined. He was, however, highly ambitious, and it was this ruthless drive that advanced his career. This book examines the extraordinary evolution of Napoleon's character and the means by which at the age of thirty he became head of the most powerful country in Europe and skilfully fashioned the image of himself that laid the foundation of the legend that endures to this day.

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'Vibrant and illuminating ... [Dywer] tells a fascinating tale' The Times 'Refreshing scholarship … Energetic, readable and filled with colourful detail … Napoleon: Passion, Death and Resurrection is a thoroughly enjoyable book which divides well the reality of exile from the legend that sprang from it' Literary Review This meticulously researched study opens with Napoleon no longer in power, but instead a prisoner on the island of St Helena. This may have been a great fall from power, but Napoleon still held immense attraction. Every day, huge crowds would gather on the far shore in the hope of catching a glimpse of him. Philip Dwyer closes his ambitious trilogy exploring Napoleon’s life, legacy and myth by moving from those first months of imprisonment, through the years of exile, up to death and then beyond, examining how the foundations of legend that had been laid by Napoleon during his lifetime continued to be built upon by his followers. This is a fitting and authoritative end to a definitive work.

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The second volume of a new and comprehensive biography about one of the history's most charismatic leaders 'a very fine book, which explains Napoleon’s extraordinary rise to power and equally meteoric fall, with great erudition, skill and verve' Spectator 'Exemplary scholarship ... A book of meticulous research and beautifully detailed descriptions of Napoleon’s military adventures, brings home the full horrific cost of the march on Russia' New Statesman 'Napoleon's legend is so persistent that it confounds the historical reality in the popular imagination. He himself contributed much towards the construction of his own myth, from his youth even until after he fell from power, when, while in exile, he dictated his memoirs to a group of disciples who took down his every word in the hope that his version of history would prevail. Such were Napoleon's skills as a chronicler that much of the legend is still unquestioningly accepted...' This second volume of Philip Dwyer's outstanding biography sheds further fresh light on one of the great figures of modern history. After a meteoric rise, a military-political coup in 1799 established Napoleon Bonaparte in government, aged just thirty. This meticulously researched study examines the man in power, from his brooding obsessions and capacity for violence, to his ability to inspire others and realise his visionary ideas. One of the first truly modern politicians, Napoleon skilfully fashioned the image of himself that laid the foundation of the legend that endures to this day; Philip Dwyer's ambitious, definitive work separates myth from history to offer us anew one of history's most charismatic and able leaders.

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bVery Short Introductionsb: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring /b Violence is part and parcel of human history and of human nature. It is one of our most distinctive traits, the one thing that all cultures and societies, across time, share in common. It has defined not only the ways in which individuals relate to each other, but also how collective entities and states have interacted with each other over the millennia. All societies are violent and all individuals have the capacity for violence. However, not all societies and not all individuals are equally violent, and nor does violence exist with the same intensity across cultures. This Very Short Introduction examines the more visible, physical acts of violence - interpersonal, gendered, collective, religious, sexual, criminal, and political - in the modern world. It explores how violence in the pre-modern world was different from the modern world, and what is significant about those differences. It also discusses what violence is by examining understandings of the ideas, values, and cultural practices embedded in an act of violence, and considering acts of violence as the outcome of a process dependent on the cultural context in which they take place. Along the way Dwyer considers some core questions, asking whether violence is always 'bad', and if there are any limits to human violence? Why is it that what was once considered acceptable - wife beating, duelling, slavery - at some point becomes unacceptable in some societies and cultures, and yet continues in others? And finally, are we becoming more or less violent? ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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In The Better Angels of Our Nature Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argued that modern history has witnessed a dramatic decline in human violence of every kind, and that in the present we are experiencing the most peaceful time in human history. But what do top historians think about Pinker’s reading of the past? Does his argument stand up to historical analysis? In The Darker Angels of our Nature, seventeen scholars of international stature evaluate Pinker’s arguments and find them lacking. Studying the history of violence from Japan and Russia to Native America, Medieval England and the Imperial Middle East, these scholars debunk the myth of non-violent modernity. Asserting that the real story of human violence is richer, more interesting and incomparably more complex than Pinker’s sweeping, simplified narrative, this book tests, and bests, ‘fake history’ with expert knowledge.

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