A sweeping portrait of an age, this book--the 11th and final volume in Will and Ariel Durant's Story of Civilization series--makes Napoleon its hero. The Durants, capable of switching from art to science to warfare with ease and skill, rank among the world's great popular historians. This adroitness requires some condensation: the description of Waterloo, for instance, takes up about three pages. If you want a detailed history of Napoleon's battle orders, look elsewhere, but if you want to understand the age and the man--in that order--"The Age of Napoleon" is a great place to begin.