The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte 

Read by Lord Woolman

The Life of Napoleon seems to me to be an unjustly neglected work. Here is Scott, novelist and poet, writing a biography. Importantly, he did not select a historical subject. Instead he chose the greatest of his contemporaries - the man whose character and deeds coloured Scott's adult life. The reader feels this in the narrative. Perhaps Scott was also drawn to his subject because of certain parallels in their lives. Each man tasted great success and great failure. The final words of the Life yield an insight into Sir Walter's own perspective on the matter.

November 2009

Lord Stephen Errol Woolman is a distinguished Scottish legal academic and retired Senator of the College of Justice. A former law lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, he served as a judge in Scotland’s supreme courts from 2008 and authored a leading text on Scots contract law. He also acted as President of the Scottish Tribunals and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.