Napoleon's family.
by Seward, Desmond
Published by : Viking (New York) Physical details: 216 p ISBN:0670811467. ISSN:978067081| Item type | Current location | Call number | Status | Notes | Date due | Barcode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 900 - 999 | 944.050922 Sew (Browse shelf) | Available | In Memory of : Jim Fissel | 62938 |
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| 944.046 Slo Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. | 944.05 Glo The Napoleonic wars | 944.05 Nap The Napoleon collection | 944.050922 Sew Napoleon's family. | 944.060924 Cas King of Rome; | 944.081 Cla The man who was France | 944.081 Shi The collapse of the Third Republic |
'In the time of the king, my uncle' --
The Buonaparte revolution --
The ascent begins-the directory --
Almost a royal family-the consulate --
Princes and princesses-the empire --
Kings and queens-the continental system --
Imperial summer --
The death of the empire --
The Bonapartes lose their crowns --
Family ruin --
The exiles --
The legend and the disillusionment.
No family in history ascended the thrones of Europe so quickly - or were deposed so fast - as the Bonapartes. Like some mafia capo, Napoleon heaped honors and riches on his siblings, giving them the crowns of Spain, Naples, Tuscany, Rome, Holland and Westphalia. In Napoleon's Family Desmond Seward recounts the saga of this extraordinary clan of social-climbing Corsican emigres. Their back-biting and bickering for honors was incessant, often vicious if deplorably entertaining, a constant embarrassment to their august brother. They had small talent for government and even less for battles, saving all their energies for dissipation. One brother was a drunken wastrel, another a venal womanizer, a third a paranoid depressive. The sisters were notorious for their innumerable lovers - among whom were Metternich and the violinist Paganini - and the emperor himself called them whores. Napoleon's Family is more than a scandalous family chronicle, however. It offers a penetrating view of the inner Napoleon - a military genius who brought France to the height of glory, a farsighted ruler who initiated social and economic reforms, yet also a man who could not escape from his Corsican background and was unable to control worthless brothers and sisters. - Author's agent.
62938