Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 - 5 May 1821) was a Corsican-born military officer who rose to prominence in the French Revolution, becoming the ruler of France as First Consul of the French Republic (11 November 1799 - 18 May 1804), and then Emperor of the French and King of Italy under the name Napoleon I (18 May 1804 - 6 April 1814, and again briefly from 20 March - 22 June 1815). (Quote from wikipedia.org) About the Author Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne (1769 - 1834) Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne (July 19, 1769 - February 7, 1834), French diplomat, was born at Sens. He was educated at the military school of Brienne in Champagne along with Napoleon Bonaparte; and although the solitary habits of the latter made intimacy difficult, the two youths seem to have been on friendly terms. It must, however, be added that the stories of their very close friendship, as told in Bourrienne"s memoirs, are open to suspicion. Leaving Brienne in 1787, and conceiving a distaste for the army, Bourrienne proceeded to Vienna. He was pursuing legal and diplomatic studies there, and afterwards at Leipzig, when the French Revolution broke out and went through its first phases. Not until the spring of 1792 did Bourrienne return to France; at Paris he renewed his acquaintance with Bonaparte. They led a Bohemian life together, and among other incidents of that exciting time, they witnessed the mobbing of the royal family in the Tuileries (June 20) and the overthrow of the Swiss Guards at the same spot (August 10). (Quote from wikipedia.org) About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklor