Rating: Not rated
Tags: History, Lang:en
Summary
Napoleon III, being accused on one occasion of having
nothing of the Great Napoleon about him, replied with as much
exasperation as wit, that he did, on the contrary, have his
relations. This book is a domestic chronicle of the incredible
Bonaparte family, a greedy, amorous, quarrelsome and
hot-blooded Corsican clan who provided nineteenth-century
Europe — and America — not only with two French
emperors, but also with a dazzling assortment of pretenders and
parvenus, statesmen and eccentrics, great ladies and
adventuresses. Plumped on to the thrones of Europe by the career of
Napoleon I, who probably took better care of his family than
any conqueror in history, the Bonapartes survived the wreck of
the two empires they ruled, buzzing around the honeypots of the
continent with all the persistence of the imperial bees of
Napoleon's crest. This is a personal history, not a political one. It is the
family, with its eccentricities, vulgarities and fascinations
manifesting themselves in generation after generation, which
holds the centre of the stage. The great political, economic
and military events of the time are heard dimly as 'noises
off'. Napoleon I himself appears as son, brother, husband,
father and above all as founder of a dynasty, rather than as a
great public figure. But about the family, its feuds, its treacheries, its love
affairs, its moments of greatness and of human tragedy, Mr
Aronson seems to have missed not one good story, from the
squabbles of Napoleon's rebellious sisters over the carrying of
Josephine's train, to Hitler's remarkable deal with Petain for
the return of the body of the Duke of Reichstadt to his
father's tomb in the Invalides. Mr Aronson paints his family portrait with a wealth of
detail based on many years of research with historical
documents and original records, letters, memoirs and family
diaries — for, in the end, no one seems to have been able
to tell quite such a lurid tale about a Bonaparte as another
Bonaparte. ** Theo Aronson is the author of over twenty works of royal
historical biography, published in eleven languages. Among the
widely read are Grandmama of Europe, The King in Love, Napoleon
and Josephine and a biography of Princess Margaret. In the
course of researching and writing these books he has
interviewed major and minor members of Britain’s royal
family and members of the royal households, as well as various
officials, servants, friends and others whose lives are in some
way connected with the monarchy.About the Author