1-152-417 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Napoleon (1769-1821) French soldier and emperor. General Bonaparte, as he then was, during his Egyptian campaign 1798-1799, with the Pyramids in the distance. In 1798, wary of Napoleon's growing popularity in France, the revolutionary government sent him to Egypt on a campaign aimed at disrupting British trade with India. In 1799 Napoleon returned to France, instigated a coup d'etat and proclaimed himself First Consul; ruler and military dictator.