"Glorious. She has achieved something admirable: writing a very original book on a subject that is not at all original... Scurr is a brilliant writer, and probably one of the most talented non-fiction authors in the world" - Simon Schama, Financial Times.
During the French Revolution ideas about nature – human nature, the natural world, and the relationship between the two – were at the center of fierce debates and key political events. In this context, Napoleon emerged as a self-proclaimed patron of science and progress, putting an end to the Revolution and bandaging its wounds. However, his rule unleashed an era of destruction and war, causing millions of deaths across Europe.

This biography of Napoleon is a revealing portrait for readers of our time, where we not only see the Napoleon of power politics or epic battles, but also the lover of nature and gardens that gave light and shade to his revolutionary life. .

Napoleon's gardens range from the olive groves of his childhood in Corsica to Josephine's gardens and menageries in Paris, the gardens of Cairo, Rome and Elba, the walled garden of Hougoumont at the Battle of Waterloo and, ultimately Instance, Napoleon's last garden on St. Helena. There Chinese workers built him a summer house where he could sit and watch the sea in his final months.

Napoleon emerges in this groundbreaking biography as a giant figure who comes to life through the eyes of those who knew him best – people close to him, rich and poor, famous and anonymous – in the shadow of his gardens. The result of this living, multidimensional and disturbing cultural story takes us back in time to meet both the glory-seeking Emperor and the man in an old straw hat, leaning on his shovel.