Napoleon

Egocentric tyrant? Primitive Corsican condottiere? Motor of world progress? Superman beyond good and evil? Embodiment of the talents and aspirations of the common man? Or insignificant grain in the sands of time? Chracterizations of Napoleon Bonaparte are in plentiful supply. In part, the evolution of his reputation is a story of historical construction; Bonaparte was just the first in a long queue of agents eager to reveal the "real" Napoleon. But it is also true that the reputation alters according to circumstance: the Napoleon of Restoration Europe was a far cry from the Napoleon that emerged after world war and subsequent experience of totalitarianism. In more recent times he advances simultaneously as gender bigot and father of European integration. None of this is entirely irreconcilable with `the truth'; the apparent contradictions of his reputation can be traced back to the ambiguities of Napoleonic character and rule. Napoleon Bonaparte was not a conviction politician; his power lay in the ability to reflect what others wanted to see. Whether for or against, we all become followers because we discern in him so much of what we love and hate, cherish and despise.