Prologue : the bridge at Arcola
The outsider, 1769-1792. The pleasure of recognition ; 'You will be my avenger' ; Corsica in revolution ; Ambition awakened
The revolutionary, 1792-1796. Disillusion ; The Jacobin ; Shifting political sands ; The political appointee
The conquering hero, 1796-1798. Innovation ; Conquest and pillage ; Artists and soldiers, politics and love ; The apprenticeship of power ; Bonaparte the 'Italique'
The civilizing hero, 1798-1799. A grandiose exile ; Confronting Egypt ; Conciliation and terror : governing Egypt ; Prisoner of his conquest ; The limits of imagination ; The end of the dream
Seizing power, 1799. The return of the saviour ; The coup as farce.
