Saint Helena, a Small Island

Napoleon’s days were drawing to an end. It was the fifth year of his stay on the island of Saint Helena. The events of this period of the disgraced emperor’s life were few and, from the outside, insignificant. At first, Napoleon entertained the thought of returning to the throne. Cold calculation showed him how completely impossible this dream was. But the former ruler of the world had long ceased to see the line that separates the possible from the impossible. His entire life was a fairy tale—and on such a tale, the island of Saint Helena, like the island of Elba, could only be a short chapter— not the last…