David Crane

Straight lines and grandiose schemes — Napoleon the gardener

Ruth Scurr approaches Bonaparte from an entirely novel angle — as a man obsessed with manipulating nature

‘The Gardener of St Helena’ (French school, 19th century). The exiled Napoleon, reduced to the Lilliputian ‘empire’ of the Longwood estate, still thinks in straight lines. Credit: Bridgeman Images 
issue 08 May 2021
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  • Napoleon: A Life in Gardens and Shadows

    Ruth Scurr

    Chatto & Windus, pp. 400, £30

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