"a formidable team of contributors...have produced a series of essays on a variety of themes indispensible for both students and scholars of Napoleonic Europe." History

No one is more responsible for dragging Europe kicking and screaming into the modern era than Napoleon. The Napoleonic Empire was not just an adjunct of the French revolution, it was a conflict over the future shape of Europe in which social, economic, political and even intellectual interests were at stake. It was a struggle between modernity and the Ancien Regime, between the old conservative Europe and the new progressive Europe. Napoleon and Europe places the period within the larger context of French and European history. Written in an accessible manner, the book contains comprehensive treatments of major areas of interest, including:

* Napoleon's youth and rise to power* The military culture of Napoleonic France* French society under Napoleon* Resistance and repression in the Empire * French foreign policy* Recent debates about the nature of the Empire and Napoleonic imperialism Providing students with an up-to-date synthesis of the impact of the Napoleonic Empire on France an Europe, Napoleon and Europe is a major contribution to the history of the period. Philip Dwyer is a Lecturer in the History Department, University of Newcastle, Australia. He is the editor of The Rise of Prussia, 1700-1830 (Longman, 2000) and Modern Prussian History, 1830-1945 (Longman, 2001) as well as a number of articles on Prussian foreign policy during the Napoleonic era.

Two hundred years ago, Napoleon was at the apogee of his power in Europe. This broad ranging reassessment explores the key themes presented by his extraordinary career: from his rise to power and the foundation of the imperial state, to the final defeat of his grand vision following the doomed invasion of Russia. It was a period of almost uninterrupted war in Europe, the consquences of victory or failure repeatedly transforming the political map. But Napoleon’s impact reached much deeper than this, achieving the ultimate destruction of the ancien regime and feudalism in Europe, and leaving a political and juridical legacy that persists today.