Writing in the present tense, Ludwig brings to life his subject's character better than any other biography of Napoleon. The biography is divided into five books One, "The Island" (birth to marriage); Two, "The Torrent" (Army of Italy to First Counsel); Three, "The River" (Marengo to birth of Napoleon II); Four, "The Sea" (Russia to Waterloo); and Five, "The Rock" (St. Helena). Each book begins with a quote from Goethe. Although Ludwig does not include a bibliography, the concluding four pages, the "Envoy", he states, "In this book, all the data are recorded facts, except the soliloquies." Also, in the acknowledgments he thanked Professor Pariset and Kurt Wildhagen for advice on the book and Edouard Driault and F.M. Kircheisen for help with supplying material for the illustrations.

    Yet while the French Revolution and the American War of Independence shook and changed the world, this kindly country priest fills the pages of his diary with the ordinariness of his life, firstly in a Somerset parish and then in rural Norfolk. He accords no more importance to the Fall of the Bastille than to the extra large crab he buys from a local fisherman or the cost of ribbons for his niece's hats. Particularly vivid are the descriptions of the gargantuan meals he enjoys with friends and neighbours, his remedies for ailments, his descriptions of East Anglian winters, his modest but unfailing generosity to the poor and his enthusiasm for local gossip. Parson Woodforde's diary provides an extraordinary portrait of life in Georgian England, but it is the diarist's humour and unpretentiousness which ensure its place among the classics of English literature."

    Dominic, Father Bede Jarrett, one of the truly eminent Dominicans of our century, presents a portrait of St. Dominic and his times with a brilliance and clarity that result from a perfect understanding of the beloved saint and his ideals. St. Dominic was plunged accidentally -- and, as it turned out, providentially -- from a quiet choir stall and scholarly life to the active and contentious life of a street-corner preacher. Called upon to dispute with heretics who threatened the very existence of the thirteenth-century Church, he found the vital inspiration of his life to lie in personal austerity, holiness, and ardent dedication of the intellect to Christ. He not only defended the truth of the faith, but through the Order he founded (the Dominicans) he spread the faith throughout existing Christendom.Austere and joyous, physically hardy, affectionate, compassionate, and full of a lively gaiety of heart, St. Dominic was ideally suited to be a brilliant preacher. He was well-educated, trained expertly to argument, and had that flaming Spanish enthusiasm and radiant character that immediately attracted eager followers to his Order. Father Jarrett's Life of St. Dominic is by far the best English biography of St. Dominic and brings him and his Order -- one of the richest ornaments of the Church and of the entire intellectual world -- to vibrant life for the modern reader.