Napoleon lost everything because of a trade war. His tale holds lessons and warnings ... modern economics (and whose tricentennial is this year). Napoleon nevertheless rejected Smith’s vision ...

It was the start of a brutal, no-holds-barred war, marked by savagery ... but there was no decisive victory. Napoleon would keep his armies in Spain for five years, unable to break the will ...

His soldiers mourned; Napoleon wept openly. He wrote to Lannes' widow: "I [have lost] the most distinguished general in my army, my companion in arms for sixteen years, and… my best friend." ...