Book dossier

Dreams of empire

by Paul Fregosi

Napoleon's campaigns within Europe have been exhaustively covered, but in this pioneering and highly original survey, Paul Fregosi focuses on Napoleon's forays outside Continental Europe. Reminding us that Napoleon wanted to be "not just the Emperor of France and the conqueror of Europe, but Emperor of the Orient and the Conqueror of India," Fregosi explores Napoleon's global ambition -- an ambition so vast that hardly a corner of the world remained untouched. In this engrossing work, Fregosi examines Napoleon's overall methods and aims, and also recounts Napoleon's campaigns in America (Louisiana), the West Indies, the Middle East, Africa, Ireland, Asia and South America. Few people realize that Napoleon conquered the islands of Haiti, Guadalupe, St. Kitt's and Martinique in the Caribbean and Guyana in South America. In Africa, he captured Capetown and occupied Senegal. Napoleon's ships took Mauritius and the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean, and in the Southwest Pacific, the tricolor flag of France flew over Java. And in the Mediterranean, Napoleon occupied Malta, Corfu and Cypress. Fregosi fills his pages with fascinating detail, vivid character sketches and exciting battle scenes. Dreams of Empire fills in the gaps left in the more conventional history of Napoleon's wars and provides a fresh and highly readable interpretation of his actions and their consequences. - Jacket flap.