May, 1779. The son of a prominent but poor Corsican family arrives at a military school in eastern France. Barely able to speak the language and fiercely proud of his Genoese heritage, it will nevertheless take Napoleon Bonaparte just 20 years to become absolute ruler of the country he once saw as his oppressor. Set against the murderous unpredictability of revolutionary politics and the battlefields of Italy, Egypt, and France, Napoleon: The Song of Departure introduces us to the man who would become the Little Emperor. Impeccably researched and brilliantly re-imagined, The Napoleon Quartet is historical fiction of the very highest caliber. A European publishing phenomenon, with more than a million copies sold, these novels?? The Song of Departure, The Sun of Austerlitz, The Emperor of Kings, and The Immortal of St. Helena ??offer a spellbinding account of one of the most fascinating men in history.