'Napoleon's plan ... was to stop the allied armies combining, defeat them separately, and force them to sue for peace.' This is the story of the towering ambition of a man willing to impoverish his people in pursuit of personal glory. From the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 to his defeat on the battlefield of Waterloo three years later, Napoleon's fall has a certain inevitability about it. Writing in a clear, non-technical way, and making use of new research and insights from a variety of other academic disciplines, Alasdair White explores the events of 1815 and sets them in perspective, showing how close Napoleon came to an improbable victory despite his many failings.