What Kind Of Leader Was Napoleon Bonaparte?
By Max Sewell Napoleon Bonaparte stirs the emotions. Some find him heroic and regard his opponents as reactionary and unimaginative. Others think him mad with ambition and responsible for many of the sins of his era. Between these extremes there are those who find some aspects of the man admirable and others regrettable. This is an examination of Napoleon to determine how his actions and achievements measure up against the opinion of his detractors. Traitor to the Revolution? One of the accusations often leveled against Napoleon is that he “betrayed” the higher ideals of the French Revolution, retarding democratic progress in both France and Europe. People making this argument apparently forget that the revolution had its truly dark side and fell a good deal short of being an ideal society. Life was not more secure nor more prosperous. France was not friendlier to Europe under the Committee of Public Safety or the Directory than it proved to be under the Consulate or Empire. Napoleon’s
