He was one of the greatest generals in history, who subjected all of Europe to his political will. Born into an impoverished Corsican noble family, Napoleon Bonaparte experienced a meteoric rise to fame in a post-revolutionary France besieged with crisis. At the age of 35, he single-handedly crowned himself emperor. Luck abandoned him at the zenith of his power. The Battle of Leipzig of 1813 sealed his fate. Napoleon was banished to Elba, but he returned. At Waterloo he fought his last battle and lost. St. Helena, an isolated island in the South Atlantic, was where he spent his final exile.