Napoleon Book

I could only get through the first four chapters before I had to put this aside. While I was very interested in learning more about Napoleon and his times, this book was not for me.

First of all, it seems to assume that you already have a good understanding of the general history of France during Napoleon's life, which I don't; I was hoping this book would help with that as well, but many important bits, like, say, the French Revolution, are glossed over. Since McLynn argues that Napoleon was a very political person and had changing reactions to the Revolution, a better account of what was supposedly influencing him would have been useful.

Had this been all, I would have kept reading. It is well written (if a bit formal), and I could have supplemented what I felt was missing with other sources. But what convinced me to put this down is the author's endless Freudian speculations on what made Napoleon who he was: his relationship with his mother; his struggles regarding his own sexuality and his hatred of homosexuals; his need to "kill the father to become the father", ad nauseam.

Perhaps I'll return to this later, but for now, I'm off to find something else.