Who Was Napoleon?

So, who was Napoleon?

Napoleon is such an iconic figure—short of stature, striking poses, brilliant at war, egotistical—in popular culture that it is difficult to know what is true. So I seek a book to fill me in and separate truth from fiction.

The Who Was series of books is an incredibly popular series of biographies for elementary kids, and I can see why. The books are heavily illustrated and focus on sharing the most fascinating of fascinating information about the most fascinating figures in history.

So what did I learn about Napoleon? Yes, short of stature, but not markedly so. He was actually average height for his day. He did love to strike a pose; he was one of the first leaders to work hard to heighten his own public image. He played war over and over as a child, and he studied war as a teen. He tried novel approaches to battle that changed war completely. And he was egotistical, with an exaggerated view of his own worth.