LES GRANDS VAINCUS DE L'HISTOIRE

Thirteen shattered destinies from Antiquity to the 20th Century.

As Napoleon once said, “From glory to downfall is but a step.” But the reverse is perhaps even truer, when we consider how the decline, defeat and death of illustrious men haunts the imagination and inspires posterity. When heroes are betrayed, murdered, doomed, their tragic end arouses curiosity and compassion. But then they become legends and their true stories are obscured.
This is why Jean-Christophe Buisson and Emmanuel Hecht have chosen thirteen great shattered destinies from antiquity to the twentieth century and researched them thoroughly. The authors explore these thirteen biographies of men and women who changed history and narrate them in their well-informed and lively style. Each profile is a separate chapter, rivalling with the best detective thrillers in drama and suspense.
Here is the list: Hannibal; Vercingetorix; Cleopatra; Joan of Arc; Montezuma; Guise; Grand Condé; Charrette; Robert E. Lee; Trotsky; Chiang Kai Shek; Che Guevara; and Richard Nixon.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BUISSON is the editor-in-chief of the Figaro Magazine and presents Historiquement show on France's history channel. His last two books: 1917, l'année qui a changé le monde ("1917, The year that changed the world", Perrin, 2016) and Assassinés ("Assassinated", Perrin, 2013) were very well-received by readers and critics. He also edited, for Perrin and Le Figaro, Les derniers jours des reines ("The Queens' Last Days", 2015) with Jean Sevillia and Les grands duels qui ont fait la France ("The Great Duels that made France", 2016) with Alexis Brézet.
A journalist, historian and publisher, EMMANUEL HECHT has edited notably La Russie des tsars ("The Russia of the Tsars", Perrin, 2017) and, with Pierre Servent, Le siècle de sang ("The Century of Blood", Perrin, 2014) co-edited by Perrin and the magazine L'Express.