On a cold December day in 1840 Parisians turned out in force to watch as the body of Napoleon was solemnly carried on a riverboat from Courbevoie on its final journey to the Invalides. In this book Alan Forrest tells the remarkable story of how the son of a Corsican attorney became the most powerful man in Europe: a man whose charisma & legacy have endured since his lonely death on the Island of St Helena. Forrest cuts away the many layers of myth that have grown up around Napoleon a man who mixed history & legend promiscuously. Drawing on original research & his own distinguished background in French history Forrest undercuts the ' Great Man' theory of history to demonstrate that Napoleon was as much a product of his times as he was their creator.