This edition in four volumes is a record of Napoleon's last years spent on the island of Saint Helena, documented by comte de Las Cases, Napoleons servant and unofficial secretary in exile. Las Cases began his journal on June 20, 1815, two days after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, and continued it until his expulsion from St. Helena on orders of the island's governor, Hudson Lowe, at the end of the following year. The core of the work transcribes Las Cases' near-daily conversations with the former Emperor on his life, his career, his political philosophy, and the conditions of his exile. The work entered the popular imagination as something like Napoleon's own personal and political testament, and as such became a founding text in the development of the Napoleon cult and the ideology of Bonapartism.

This book is a firsthand account of the life and exile of Napoleon Bonaparte, the emperor of France. Las Cases, who served as Napoleon's personal secretary during his exile on the island of Saint Helena, provides a detailed and intimate portrait of the emperor's character, thoughts, and conversations. The book also includes descriptions of the island, its inhabitants, and the political context of Napoleon's exile. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1862.