Alexander Lange Kielland (1849-1906) is considered one of the "Big Four" of Norwegian literature, alongside Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, and Jonas Lie, who helped usher in modernity in Scandinavia. Kielland initially worked as a lawyer and entrepreneur before moving to Paris in 1879 to pursue writing. By the 1890s, he turned away from literature and became a civil servant. His realistic and socially critical novels are influenced by Dickens and Turgenev and often have a satirical character. This is also true for his biography of Napoleon, which holds a unique position in his oeuvre and is distinguished by refreshing subjectivity and pointed judgments, in contrast to texts by professional historians. This is a reprint of the original German edition published in Leipzig in 1905.