Napoleon's intellectual habits were unusually intense, practical, and utilitarian. He was not a leisurely scholar; he read to acquire usable knowledge and wrote to impose his will on events.
Napoleon's study habits
1. Voracious but selective reading
Napoleon read across military science, history, geography, politics, philosophy, law, literature and science. He particularly valued history as a manual for action—studying how earlier rulers and commanders had succeeded or failed.
2. Extraordinary memory
He had a remarkable ability to retain names, places, figures and previous conversations. He could reportedly recall details of earlier military campaigns years later.
3. He read quickly
Accounts from contemporaries describe very rapid reading, although the exact claims about his reading speed are difficult to verify. He was particularly good at extracting the essential argument or useful fact from a book.
4. He studied with a purpose
His question was essentially:
“How can I use this?”
A book on Alexander, Caesar or Frederick the Great wasn't merely historical reading—it could provide principles for his own campaigns.
5. He read late and at odd hours
Napoleon's working day was highly irregular. He could sleep in short periods and work through the night, particularly during military campaigns. His staff had to be prepared to receive instructions at almost any hour.
His writing habits
6. He dictated enormous amounts
This is perhaps the biggest difference from a modern student. Napoleon often dictated rather than wrote by hand. Secretaries and aides-de-camp produced a tremendous volume of correspondence and orders.
During campaigns, his headquarters could become almost an information-processing centre.
7. Short, forceful instructions
His military orders tended to be highly practical:
What has happened?
What is happening now?
What must happen next?
Who is responsible?
How quickly must it happen?
He disliked unnecessary abstraction when giving operational instructions.
8. He annotated and corrected
When reading documents, he frequently marked them up, added comments and demanded revisions. His correspondence shows a strong concern with precision, timing and factual detail.
9. He could dictate several subjects almost simultaneously
Napoleon's staff system allowed him to move rapidly between military orders, diplomatic correspondence, administrative matters and personal letters.
His mind seems to have operated somewhat like a high-speed executive command centre.
10. He wrote constantly to people
His correspondence was enormous. He wrote to marshals, ministers, diplomats, family members, generals and administrators. Letters were not merely personal communication—they were a principal instrument of government.
What is particularly interesting about Napoleon
His intellectual habit can be reduced to a five-stage process:
READ → REMEMBER → ANALYSE → DECIDE → DICTATE
He did not study primarily to demonstrate that he was knowledgeable. He studied because knowledge gave him decision-making power.
That is why Napoleon is an interesting model for someone studying history, monuments, business or strategy today: his approach was not encyclopaedic accumulation. It was knowledge converted into action.
If Napoleon were a student today
His notebook might contain only three columns:
| Information | Why it matters | How I can use it |
|---|---|---|
| Fact | Significance | Application |
| Event | Cause/consequence | Lesson |
| Person | Strength/weakness | Strategic implication |
That is probably a better model for serious study than simply highlighting an entire textbook.
The very “Napoleonic” study question would be:
“What does this information allow me to understand, predict or do?”
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