About the book: 2002 / Great destinies are unpredictable. Who could have predicted in 1769 that a newly born Corsican boy would eventually create an Empire in France and distribute the thrones of Europe to his brothers? Who could have foreseen in 1794 that a young lieutenant, not even entirely French, would become the master of the country in 1800? Who would have dared to say in 1810 that five years later this brilliant star would fade? Who would have imagined in 1815 that six years of exile would become the pedestal for the most dazzling posthumous glory of the century? And who then thought that this man, who led the French into battle for twenty years, to victory, and then to defeat, would remain dear to their hearts, and his legend would be one of the most beautiful in history?