Napoleon's sea-power blind spot

Napoleon was the central author of the invasion concept rather than a passive recipient of naval advice. A favourable assessment by historian Andrew Roberts credits him with spreading meritocracy, equality before the law, property rights, religious toleration, secular education, local administration, support for science and the arts, the abolition of feudalism and major legal codification. The counterargument points to France's financial collapse and Napoleon's effort to reintroduce slavery, then questions his quality as a long-term strategist. An able battlefield tactician could still be a poor maritime strategist when he treated the sea as a supporting route rather than a hostile environment with its own operational logic. The Egyptian campaign should have demonstrated those limits.