The chaos of the French Revolution was quickly followed by the somewhat less chaotic rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. For roughly 25 years, France saw five constitutions; countless warring political factions; governments that included a monarchy, a republic, and an empire; and almost constant warfare with most of Europe. At the same time, the French fought from within, sending thousands of its own people to the guillotine.

And yet, there were perhaps more advancements during that time than any other in world history. Two brothers launched hot air balloons, inaugurating the age of flight, more than 100 years before Orville and Wilbur Wright. Modern chemistry was developed, eclipsing the strange and superstitious field of alchemy which proceeded it. The metric system was created. Napoleon Bonaparte's army explored Egypt for three years, and a French man would later translate the mysterious hieroglyphs. This book details these French advances and more, including the first photograph, the first automobile, and development of the process that spawned computer programming.