Just finished Andrew Roberts' brick-sized biography of Napoleon and wow—what a ride. This isn’t your dry history textbook; it’s like binge-watching a messy, brilliant antihero’s rise and fall.

First off, the man had a MEMORY. Dude could recall troop positions from years prior while exiled on Elba? Meanwhile I forget my coffee order mid-sentence. His library obsession (traveling with bookshelves?!) and Enlightenment ideals initially had me stanning—until the megalomania kicked in post-1805.

The contradictions kill me: championed meritocracy but installed his talentless siblings as rulers, progressive on religion but regressive on women’s rights. Roberts nails how power slowly warped him—like watching a Shakespeare tragedy in slow motion.

Pro tip: military history nerds will geek over battle details (Waterloo section had me holding my breath), but casual readers might skim those bits. The lack of maps is criminal though—publishers, take note!

Final verdict? 5/5 for showing Napoleon as neither demon nor deity, but as that gifted yet flawed coworker we’ve all had… if said coworker redrew Europe’s map between coffee breaks.