The Age of Napoleon was published by Simon & Schuster in 1975, the eleventh and final volume of The Story of Civilization. Will Durant was ninety years old at its publication; Ariel was eighty-three. The volume covered the period from the French Revolution (1789) through the Congress of Vienna (1815), with Napoleon Bonaparte as its towering central figure.
The Durants’ Napoleon is neither the romantic hero of Bonapartist legend nor the tyrannical warmonger of British propaganda but a figure of immense ability and immense destructiveness — a man who reorganized the legal and administrative systems of Europe while consuming a generation of its young men in his wars.
The completion of the series after forty years of continuous work was one of the great feats of sustained intellectual production in American letters. The Durants had planned to continue through the Victorian era, but age and declining health made this impossible. Will Durant died on November 7, 1981; Ariel died thirteen days later.
Collecting The Age of Napoleon
First edition (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1975): Cloth binding with dust jacket.
Market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $25–$60
- Very good: $10–$25
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation. Final volume of the series.
The Last Volume
The Age of Napoleon (1975) is Volume XI and the final volume of The Story of Civilization, covering the period from 1789 to 1815. Durant was ninety when it was published, and the volume bears the marks of age — it is shorter and less detailed than the earlier volumes. But Napoleon’s career provides irresistible material, and Durant’s portrait of the Emperor is complex and sympathetic. The series ends abruptly with Waterloo; Durant had hoped to continue through the Victorian era but his health did not permit it. Will Durant died in 1981, thirteen days after Ariel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the series worth reading today? For narrative sweep and accessibility, nothing has replaced it. Professional historians have produced more accurate specialized studies, but no single author (or couple) has attempted anything comparable in scope. The series remains the most ambitious popular history in the English language.