29 Best Books on Napoleon

The bestselling author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and The Last Wife of Henry VIII returns with an enchanting novel about one of the most seductive women in history: Josephine Bonaparte, first wife of Napoleon.

Born on the Caribbean island of Martinique, Josephine had an exotic Creole appeal that would ultimately propel her to reign over an empire as wife of the most powerful man in the world. But her life is a story of ambition and danger, of luck and a ferocious will to survive. Married young to an arrogant French aristocrat who died during the Terror, Josephine also narrowly missed losing her head to the guillotine. But her extraordinary charm, sensuality, and natural cunning helped her become mistress to some of the most powerful politicians in post-Revolutionary France.

Soon she had married the much younger General Bonaparte, whose armies garnered France an empire that ran from Europe to Africa and the New World and who crowned himself and his wife Emperor and Empress of France. He dominated on the battlefield, and she presided over the worlds of fashion and glamour. But Josephine’s heart belonged to another man–the mysterious, compelling stranger who had won her as a girl in Martinique.

“The Dakota Cipher is a supple, elegant thriller that carries the reader triumphantly from one exciting climax to the next.”
–Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Jefferson Key

Ethan Gage is a fearless adventurer who has crossed paths (and, sometimes, swords) with the likes of Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin–and whose unabashed derring do puts even Indiana Jones to shame. Now Gage is back for a third time in William Dietrich’s The Dakota Cipher, an ingenious page-turner that carries our hero to the American wilderness in search of an almost unthinkably powerful ancient artifact. No stranger to thrilling action himself, New York Times bestseller James Rollins, author of Black Order, The Last Oracle, and Altar of Eden, is a dedicated fan of Dietrich’s Ethan Gage novels, and proclaims that, “The Dakota Cipher should be read by anyone who loves adventure at its grandest.”

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the tenth installment in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

Sharpe’s job as Captain of the Light Company is under threat and he has made a new enemy, a Portuguese criminal known as Ferragus. Discarded by his regiment, Sharpe wages a private war against Ferragus – a war fought through the burning, pillaged streets of Coimbra, Portugal’s ancient university city.

Sharpe’s Escape begins on the great, gaunt ridge of Bussaco where a joint British and Portuguese army meets the overwhelming strength of Marshall Massena’s crack troops. It finishes at Torres Vedras where the French hopes of occupying Portugal quickly die.

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, another exciting adventure in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

Five years after the Battle of Waterloo, Sharpe’s peaceful retirement in Normandy is shattered. An old friend, Don Blas Vivar, is missing in Chile, reported dead at rebel hands – a report his wife refuses to believe. She appeals to Sharpe to find out the truth.

Sharpe, along with Patrick Harper, find themselves bound for Chile via St. Helena, where they have a fateful meeting with the fallen Emperor Napoleon. Convinced that they are on their way to collect a corpse, neither man can imagine that dangers that await them in Chile…

“An utterly captivating romp from the treacherous tunnels beneath Jerusalem to the lost City of Ghosts (Petra, Jordan) to the tumult of revolutionary Paris….Dietrich spins a merry magical mystery tour, winningly intricate and anchored to actual historical figures and events….Mr. Spielberg! Mr. Lucas! It’s your move.”
—Seattle Times

Dashing and courageous American adventurer Ethan Gage returns in William Dietrich’s The Rosetta Key–the thrilling sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s acclaimed Napoleon’s Pyramids. An eighteenth century Indiana Jones, Gage swashbuckles once again, this time in pursuit of a precious Egyptian relic that would give its owner the power to rule the world. The Rosetta Key an adventure in reading that is not to be missed, especially by fans of George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman novels and aficionados of a grand literary tradition dating back to Jack London, Robert Lewis Stevenson, and H. Rider Haggard, and carried on today by such notables as James Rollins, David Liss, Steve Berry, and Kate Mosse.

Born in Hull in 1759, William Wilberforce was destined to become one of Britain’s most influential statesmen, having been influenced himself by men like Whitefield, Wesley, and, most of all, John Newton. Chiefly remembered as the reformer who campaigned for the abolition of the slave trade in England, he was at the heart of British politics for over forty years during the inflammatory times of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

Wilberforce introduced his first antislave-trade motion in the House of Commons in 1788 with a speech that lasted three-and-a-half-hours, appealing to the dictates of conscience, the principals of justice, and the law of God. The motion was defeated but Wilberforce continued his campaign until the slave trade was abolished and went on to fight against slavery itself right up to his death. Just as he died on July 29, 1833, Wilberforce was informed that Parliament had finally agreed to the emancipation of slaves.

Drawing on a vast array of previously unpublished manuscripts, John Pollock faithfully records Wilberforce’s fight as one of the most courageous and vital political battles in history and presents a full picture of the man: “exciting, lovable, delightful, with faults which must have maddened his friends.”

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

A temporary engagement, a lifetime in the making . . .

After years of fending for herself, Kate Taylor found friendship and acceptance in Spindle Cove–but she never stopped yearning for love. The very last place she’d look for it is in the arms of Corporal Thorne. The militia commander is as stone cold as he is brutally handsome. But when mysterious strangers come searching for Kate, Thorne steps forward as her fiance. He claims to have only Kate’s safety in mind. So why is there smoldering passion in his kiss?

Long ago, Samuel Thorne devoted his life to guarding Kate’s happiness. He wants what’s best for her, and he knows it’s not marriage to a man like him. To outlast their temporary engagement, he must keep his hands off her tempting body and lock her warm smiles out of his withered heart. It’s the toughest battle of this hardened warrior’s life . . . and the first he seems destined to lose.

New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell returns with his iconic hero, Richard Sharpe.

SHARPE IS BACK.

Outsider.

Hero.

Rogue.

And the one man you want on your side.

Sharpe’s Assassin is the brand-new novel in the bestselling historical series that has sold more than twenty million copies worldwide.

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the eleventh installment in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

In the winter of 1811, the war seems lost. Spain has fallen to the French, except for Cadiz, now the Spanish capital and itself under siege. Inside the city walls an intricate diplomatic dance is taking place and Richard Sharpe faces more than one enemy.

The small British force is trapped by a French army, and their only hope lies with the outnumbered redcoats outside refusing to admit defeat. There, in the sweltering horror of Barrosa, Sharpe will meet his old enemy Colonel Vandal once again.

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the second installment in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

“The greatest writer of historical adventures today.” —Washington Post

Richard Sharpe. Soldier, hero, rogue–the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears.

Written with great energy and authority–and using the newly available personal archives of Napoleon himself–the first volume of a majestic two-part biography of the great French emperor and conqueror

All previous lives of Napoleon have relied more on the memoirs of others than on his own uncensored words. This is the first life of Napoleon, in any language, that makes full use of his newly released personal correspondence compiled by the Napoleon Foundation in Paris.

Michael Broers’ biography draws on the thoughts of Napoleon himself as his incomparable life unfolded. It reveals a man of intense emotion, but also of iron self-discipline; of acute intelligence and immeasurable energy. Tracing his life from its dangerous Corsican roots, through his rejection of his early identity, and the dangerous military encounters of his early career, it tells the story of the sheer determination, ruthlessness, and careful calculation that won him the precarious mastery of Europe by 1807. After the epic battles of Austerlitz, Jena, and Friedland, France was the dominant land power on the continent.

Here is the first biography of Napoleon in which this brilliant, violent leader is evoked to give the listener a full, dramatic, and all-encompassing portrait.

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the twelth installment in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

Quartered in a crumbling Portuguese fort, Richard Sharpe and his men are attacked by an elite French unit, led by an old enemy of Sharpe’s, and suffer heavy losses.

The army’s high command blame Sharpe for the disaster and his military career seems to be ruined. His only hope is to redeem himself on the battlefield. So with his honour at stake, against an overwhelming number of French troops, Sharpe leads his men to battle in the narrow streets of Fuentes de Onoro.

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the first exciting adventure in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

“The greatest writer of historical adventures today.” —Washington Post

Richard Sharpe. Soldier, hero, rogue–the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears.

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the tenth installment in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

Sharpe’s job as Captain of the Light Company is under threat and he has made a new enemy, a Portuguese criminal known as Ferragus. Discarded by his regiment, Sharpe wages a private war against Ferragus – a war fought through the burning, pillaged streets of Coimbra, Portugal’s ancient university city.

Sharpe’s Escape begins on the great, gaunt ridge of Bussaco where a joint British and Portuguese army meets the overwhelming strength of Marshall Massena’s crack troops. It finishes at Torres Vedras where the French hopes of occupying Portugal quickly die.

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the eleventh installment in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

In the winter of 1811, the war seems lost. Spain has fallen to the French, except for Cadiz, now the Spanish capital and itself under siege. Inside the city walls an intricate diplomatic dance is taking place and Richard Sharpe faces more than one enemy.

The small British force is trapped by a French army, and their only hope lies with the outnumbered redcoats outside refusing to admit defeat. There, in the sweltering horror of Barrosa, Sharpe will meet his old enemy Colonel Vandal once again.

Dashing young Edmond Dantes has everything: a fine reputation, an appointment as captain of a ship, and the heart of a beautiful woman. But his perfect life is shattered when three jealous friends conspire to destroy him.

Falsely accused of a political crime, Edmond Dantes is locked away for life in the infamous prison at the French Chateau d’If. But it is there that he learns of a vast hidden treasure.

After fourteen years of hopeless imprisonment, Dantes makes his daring escape and follows his secret map to untold fortune. Disguised now as the mysterious and powerful Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond seeks out his enemies–and nothing will stand in the way of his just revenge.

Filled with thrilling episodes of betrayal, romance, and revenge, The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the greatest adventure stories ever written.

“The greatest writer of historical adventures today.”

—Washington Post

Critically acclaimed, perennial New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell (Agincourt, The Fort, the Saxon Tales) makes real history come alive in his breathtaking historical fiction. Praised as “the direct heir to Patrick O’Brian” (Agincourt, The Fort), Cornwell has brilliantly captured the fury, chaos, and excitement of battle as few writers have ever done–perhaps most vividly in his phenomenally popular novels following the illustrious military career of British Army officer Richard Sharpe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In Sharpe’s Fortress, Ensign Sharpe’s adventures in India reach a grand finale at the Siege of Gawilghur during the Maharatta War in December 1803, as Cornwell’s hero uncovers a foul treason and seeks a righteous revenge. Perhaps the San Francisco Chronicle said it best: “If only all history lessons could be as vibrant.”

The fast-paced and “engrossing account” (The New York Times Book Review) of “one of the greatest breakthroughs in archaeological history” (The Christian Science Monitor): two rival geniuses in a race to decode the writing on one of the world’s most famous documents–the Rosetta Stone.

The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the world, attracting millions of visitors to the British museum every year, and yet most people don’t really know what it is. Discovered in a pile of rubble in 1799, this slab of stone proved to be the key to unlocking a lost language that baffled scholars for centuries.

Carved in ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone carried the same message in different languages–in Greek using Greek letters, and in Egyptian using picture-writing called hieroglyphs. Until its discovery, no one in the world knew how to read the hieroglyphs that covered every temple and text and statue in Egypt.

Dominating the world for thirty centuries, ancient Egypt was the mightiest empire the world had ever known, yet everything about it–the pyramids, mummies, the Sphinx–was shrouded in mystery. Whoever was able to decipher the Rosetta Stone would solve that mystery and fling open a door that had been locked for two thousand years.

Two brilliant rivals set out to win that prize. One was English, the other French, at a time when England and France were enemies and the world’s two great superpowers. Written “like a thriller” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), The Writing of the Gods chronicles this high-stakes intellectual race in which the winner would win glory for both himself and his nation. A riveting portrait of empires both ancient and modern, this is an unparalleled look at the culture and history of ancient Egypt, “and also a lesson…in what the human mind does when faced with a puzzle” (The New Yorker).

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, now available in paperback–bestselling historical novelist Bernard Cornwell brings life to one of the most spectacular naval battles in history with SHARPE’S TRAFALGAR.

“The greatest writer of historical adventures today.” —Washington Post

Critically acclaimed, perennial New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell (Agincourt, The Fort, the Saxon Tales) makes real history come alive in his breathtaking historical fiction. Praised as “the direct heir to Patrick O’Brian” (Agincourt, The Fort), Cornwell has brilliantly captured the fury, chaos, and excitement of battle as few writers have ever done–perhaps most vividly in his phenomenally popular novels following the illustrious military career of British Army officer Richard Sharpe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Chronicling Sharpe’s involvement in the famous Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Sharpe’s Trafalgar finds the young ensign captive on a French warship and in gravest peril on the eve of the one of the most spectacular naval confrontations in history. Perhaps the San Francisco Chronicle said it best: “If only all history lessons could be as vibrant.”

New York Times Bestselling Author

Newly Reissued

Richard Sharpe returns to the battlefields of the Iberian Peninsula, where he and his men bravely fight the French invasion into Portugal in 1809. The world-renowned Sharpe series is now available with gorgeous packaging for a new generation of readers

A few years after Richard Sharpe’s heroic exploits on the battlefields of Trafalgar, Sharpe finds himself once again in Portugal, fighting the savage armies of Napoleon Bonaparte, as they try to bring the whole of the Iberian Peninsula under their control. Travelling with a small British contingent, Sharpe is on the lookout for Kate Savage, the daughter of an English wine shipper, who has gone missing a few months before. But just as he follows the first leads to the missing girl, the French onslaught on Portugal begins and the city of Oporto becomes a bloody scene of carnage and disaster as it falls into the hands of the enemy.

The discovery of Dumas’s last, incomplete novel, lost and completely unknown to historians for more than a century, was a literary bombshell. The Last Cavalier is Dumas’s swan song, a rousing adventure that completes his epic retelling of French history from the Renaissance (La Reine Margot) to his present day (The Count of Monte Cristo) by filling in that one vital, dramatic era that was missing: the Age of Napoleon.

A tale of family honor and heroic derring-do, The Last Cavalier follows the fortunes of young Hector, Count de Sainte-Hermine, who has sworn an oath to avenge his Royalist family members’ deaths by fighting against Napoleon. When he is defeated, he is sentenced to serve as a common soldier in Napoleon’s imperial forces. Though he courts death fearlessly, Hector’s daring deeds will change his destiny–and Napoleon’s.

It is rousing, big spirited, its action sweeping across oceans and continents, its hero gloriously indomitable. This newly discovered lastnovel of Alexandre Dumas, lost for 125 years in the archives of the National Library in Paris, completes the Dumas oeuvre.

“The greatest writer of historical adventures today.” —Washington Post

Critically acclaimed, perennial New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell (Agincourt, The Fort, the Saxon Tales) makes real history come alive in his breathtaking historical fiction. Praised as “the direct heir to Patrick O’Brian” (Agincourt, The Fort), Cornwell has brilliantly captured the fury, chaos, and excitement of battle as few writers have ever done–perhaps most vividly in his phenomenally popular novels following the illustrious military career of British Army officer Richard Sharpe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In Sharpe’s Prey, Sharpe must prove his mettle once again after performing courageously on Wellesley’s battlefields in India and the Iberian Peninsula, as he undertakes a secret mission to Copenhagen, Denmark in 1807 to prevent a resurgent Napoleon from capturing the Danish fleet. Perhaps the San Francisco Chronicle said it best: “If only all history lessons could be as vibrant.”

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Sophie Jordan continues her bestselling Rogue Files series with this captivating romance that will thrill her many fans.

She doesn’t care about love…

Despite being surrounded by her happily wed sisters, Nora Langley prefers botany to ballrooms and would rather spend a lifetime in her laboratory than consider affairs of the heart. An expert herbalist, Nora has been masquerading as her late physician father for years, dispensing invaluable medical advice. She corresponds with people all over the world, including an old army colonel. But when the man shows up on her doorstep, he is nothing like she expected–he is a young, handsome heir to a dukedom who suddenly threatens everything she holds dear.

He only cares about duty…

Constantine Sinclair arrives on the Langley doorstep in a desperate bid to save the woman who raised him, the Duchess of Birchwood … only to discover that the venerable doctor he expected is a bold and lovely charlatan. Furious at the deception, he vows to reveal her secrets. Determined to prove her skills, Nora promises to save the duchess in exchange for Con keeping her secret. Con reluctantly agrees… and soon Nora’s brilliant, headstrong ways are throwing his carefully controlled life into chaos. What happens when the rigid soldier begins to lose his grip on his heart?

After the defeated Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte goes into exile on tiny St. Helena Island in the remote South Atlantic, he and his lover, Albine de Montholon, plot to escape and rescue his young son. Banding together African slaves, British sympathizers, a Jewish merchant, a Corsican rogue, and French followers, they confront British opposition?as well as treachery within their own ranks?with sometimes subtle, sometimes bold, but always desperate action. When Napoleon and Albine break faith with one another, ambition and Albine’s husband threaten their reconciliation. To survive, Albine must decide whom to betray. To succeed, Napoleon must learn whom to trust. With its delightful adaptation of Napoleon’s real attempt to write a novel, Finding Napoleon offers a fresh take on Europe’s most powerful man after he’s lost everything. A forgotten woman of history?the audacious Albine de Montholon?narrates their tale of intrigue, love, and betrayal.