November Harper Highlights

Banjo GR ANT L E E K I E Z A

Napoleon: The man behind the myth ADAM Z AMOYS K I

Balladeer, bushman, soldier, foreign correspondent – the remarkable tale of Australia’s greatest storyteller. In Grantlee Kieza’s landmark biography, we discover the real Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson. Australia’s most celebrated poet and storyteller helped define our national traits of loyalty, mateship and laconic humour, but he did and was so much more. A soldier in the Boer War and World War I, the balladeer bushman was also a solicitor, newspaper editor, columnist, ABC broadcaster, and war and foreign correspondent.

Napoleon: God-like genius, compulsive warmonger, romantic avatar or just a nasty little dictator? Napoleon inspires passionately held, and often conflicting, visions and, while he displayed elements of all of these traits at certain times, Napoleon was none of them. He was a man – and, as Adam Zamoyski presents in this landmark biography, he was a rather ordinary one at that.

Acquainted with many luminaries of his time, including Rudyard Kipling, Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Haig, Breaker Morant and Henry Lawson, the tennis ace, notorious lady’s man, brilliant jockey and celebrated polo player was eyewitness to many of the great moments in Australian 20th century history. Extensively researched and written with Kieza’s trademark verve, Banjo is a rich and captivating portrait of our most celebrated poet and a truly great Australian. Award-winning journalist Grantlee Kieza has held senior editorial positions at The Daily Telegraph , The Sunday Telegraph and The Courier-Mail . He is a Walkley Award finalist and the author of twelve acclaimed books, including the recent bestsellers Mrs Kelly , Monash , Sons of the Southern Cross and Bert Hinkler . Grantlee lives in Brisbane.

Zamoyski strips away the lacquer of prejudice and places Napoleon the man within the context of his times. In the 1790s, a young Napoleon entered a world at war: a bitter struggle for supremacy and survival with leaders motivated by self-interest in their quest for power. He did not start the war that dominated his life and continued, with one brief interruption, until his final defeat in 1815. Based on primary sources in many European languages, and beautifully illustrated with portraits done only from life, this magnificent book examines how Napoleone Buonaparte, the boy from Corsica, became ‘Napoleon’; how he achieved what he did, and how it came about that he undid it. It does not justify or condemn but seeks instead to understand Napoleon’s extraordinary trajectory. Adam Zamoyski ’s previous book, 1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow , was chosen as the Sunday Telegraph Book of the Year and has sold over 12k copies in Australia.

Non Fiction | November 2018

adamzamoyski.com

9780733335891 | e 9781460707579 | Released: 22/10/18 CHB | 512pp | AU $39.99 NZ $45.00 Publicity contact: Matthew.Howard@harpercollins.com.au

9780008116071 | e 9780008116088 | 22/10/18 CHB | 576pp | AU $49.99 NZ $55.00 Publicity contact: Nicola.Woods@harpercollins.com.au

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