Try free for 2 months

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
AUD $16.45/mo after 2 months. Renews automatically. Cancel anytime.
Napoleon the Great cover art

Napoleon the Great

By: Andrew Roberts
Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
Try for $0.00

AUD $16.45/mo after 2 months. Renews automatically. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $43.99

Buy Now for $43.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Editorial reviews

One of the most influential leaders in history who reshaped France and Europe into what they are today, Napoleon Bonaparte’s life and times are explored in Napoleon the Great written by award-winning and best-selling writer, modern historian and biographer, Andrew Roberts. This enlightening historical audiobook edition is narrated by British actor Stephen Thorne. Listeners hear of Napoleons incredible rise to power in France - his battles both in war and in love as well as his fall at the hands of his greatest enemy, the British Empire. Available now from Audible.

Publisher's Summary

Napoleon Bonaparte lived one of the most extraordinary of all human lives. In the space of just 20 years, from October 1795, when as a young artillery captain he cleared the streets of Paris of insurrectionists, to his final defeat at the (horribly mismanaged) battle of Waterloo in June 1815, Napoleon transformed France and Europe.

After seizing power in a coup d'état, he ended the corruption and incompetence into which the revolution had descended. In a series of dazzling battles, he reinvented the art of warfare; in peace he completely remade the laws of France, modernised her systems of education and administration, and presided over a flourishing of the beautiful Empire style in the arts.

The impossibility of defeating his most persistent enemy, Great Britain, led him to make draining and ultimately fatal expeditions into Spain and Russia, where half a million Frenchmen died, and his empire began to unravel.

More than any other modern biographer, Andrew Roberts conveys Napoleon's tremendous energy, both physical and intellectual, and the attractiveness of his personality even to his enemies. He has walked 53 of Napoleon's 60 battlefields and has absorbed the gigantic new French edition of Napoleon's letters, which allows a complete reevaluation of this exceptional man.

He overturns many received opinions, including the myth of a great romance with Josephine: She took a lover immediately after their marriage, and, as Roberts shows, he had three times as many mistresses as he acknowledged.

Of the climactic Battle of Leipzig in 1813, as the fighting closed around them, a French sergeant major wrote, "No-one who has not experienced it can have any idea of the enthusiasm that burst forth among the half-starved, exhausted soldiers when the Emperor was there in person. If all were demoralised and he appeared, his presence was like an electric shock. All shouted 'Vive l'Empereur!' and everyone charged blindly into the fire."

Andrew Roberts is a biographer and historian of international renown whose books include Salisbury: Victorian Titan (winner, the Wolfson Prize for History); Masters and Commanders; and The Storm of War, which reached number two on the Sunday Times best seller list. Roberts is a fellow of the Royal Societies of Literature and Arts. He appears regularly on British television and radio and writes for the Sunday Telegraph, Spectator, Literary Review, Mail on Sunday and Daily Telegraph.

©2014 Andrew Roberts (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Roberts...writes with great vigour, style and fluency." (Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times)
"Magisterial and beautifully written.... A richly detailed and sure-footed reappraisal of the man, his achievements--and failures--and the extraordinary times in which he lived." (Jeremy Jennings, Standpoint)
"Roberts tells his story with vigour and aplomb. And even critics of the emperor will recognize that there is much new information in Roberts’s 814 pages, while the frequent complaint that is made of a tendency among authors to foreshorten the military narrative is not suitable here." (Charles Esdaile, Literary Review)

What listeners say about Napoleon the Great

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    351
  • 4 Stars
    60
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    312
  • 4 Stars
    54
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    306
  • 4 Stars
    59
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well worth the listen

I sat before this very daunting audiobook, coming in at over 30 hours, feeling slightly excited as my expectations where high after Dr Roberts last offering. I have read a few books about Napoleons campaigns before but never had I taken a look at the entire life of the man.

I am pleased to write that this book delivers an informative and enthralling read that sees the pages melt away as you are pulled into Napoleons life. This book is very balanced, with the author trying to peel back the stories and legends around the man to tell as best as possible the real story behind the man.

The huge amount of research that went into this book is evident and gave the author some great insights into Napoleon’s characteristics. This book is a must read for anyone that loves history.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Magisterial work of human and military history.

Andrew Roberts has a unique combination of gifts: clear, meticulously researched and lively historical details that are engagingly told by a master story teller. The most complex of military battles, especially those of 1812 and Waterloo, are presented piece by piece without detracting from the main flow as of a great European river. Occasional over-careful pronunciations of foreign names, by Stephen Thorne, the audiobook narrator, don’t get in the way of a good performance overall.

Highly recommended alongside Roberts’ equally great Churchill, with the same narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a fantastic read!

This is one of the best historical biographies I have ever read. It’s brilliantly detailed, and is great for someone like myself who didn’t know much about Napoleon.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling history, well narrated

A well written, thoroughly researched account of Napoleon's life. An enjoyably positive account which still remains critical of the subject's many mistakes.

Performance is excellent although the audio book's editing sometimes let's in background noise in the final chapters. Not a big deal.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great insight into this period of French history

An exhaustive coverage of the exploits of Napoleon Bonaparte. The book covers extensive detail of his campaign's and exploits - even down to the number of shoes each soldier took into battle. Despite this minutia, the book is well written and the narration is excellent, keeping the listener interested and engaged throughout. Well worth listening to if you want to gain an appreciation of this period of French history and its impact on Europe.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Returned in favour of Hard Copy

I returned this audiobook in favour of purchasing a hard copy - there's a lot of info and i feel it'd be easier to take in if read, rather than listened to. I listened to approx. 3 hours and it was in depth which I liked but yeah, hard copy for me and this title

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent narrative.

Great detail and wonderful insights. Best yet on Boney, his life, loves, letters, rise and fall.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The definitive Napoleonic history 

I have read many books over the years on Napoleon, both from his staunchest
critics and his supporters. This account is the most complete, fair, and accurate depiction of Napoleon‘s life, and the events that surrounded him. This account recognises the man’s strengths, floors, and cuts through the many contradictory accounts that taint this period in history. This truly is the definitive history of the Napoleonic era and of Napoleon Bonaparte himself.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Truly Historic Figure

Napoleon the Great is a fantastic biography and keeps one interested all the way through. The narration is really good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating deep dive into Napoleon’s life

I pretty much binged on this book. Comprehensive, balanced and full of quotes, humour and charming trivialities that brought the times and the man to life. I had preconceived ideas about Napoleon that this book challenged. By the end you must agree that he deserves the epithet Napoleon the great.
The performance was great and didn’t dominate the subject matter but enhanced it. Beautiful French pronunciation helped. Would thoroughly recommend to people interested in history and human achievement.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.