Napoleon and Josephine: A love story - Hardcover

Ever since the instant success of his first book The Golden Bees: The Story of the Bonapartes, Theo Aronson has steadily built up his reputation as a historical biographer specialising in the Royal Houses of Europe. Among his many widely read books are Grandmama of Europe, Crowns in Conflict: The Triumph and the Tragedy of European Monarchy 1910-1918 and The King in Love: Edward VII's Mistresses.

His books have been published in Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland and Belgium; in paperback, in book club editions and in serialisation.

PRESS ACCLAIM
'I found it totally absorbing . . . a thoroughly enjoyable book from start to finish.'
Auberon Waugh on The King in Love

'In Mr Aronson we recognise at once an expert practitioner in the art of royal historical biography.'
Douglas Hurd, The Spectator

'Theo Aronson has proved himself to be one of the most prolific, gifted and popular chroniclers of royalty to emerge since the war.'
Catholic Herald

'His writing is bright with intelligence and human wisdom ... very highly recommended.'
C. P. Snow

'He has a feeling for the period and he writes with an eloquent and smiling simplicity.'
The New Yorker

'Aronson is a skilful narrator and... writes with elegance.'
Kenneth Rose, Sunday Telegraph

Aronson's lifelong interest in Napoleon turns toward the French ruler's domestic life in this account of his marriage to Josephine de Beauharnais. Acknowledging that "in almost every way, theirs was an attraction of opposites," the author notes that Napoleon saw his spouse as his lucky charm; as long as he was married to her, he believed, he could not fail. It was only after he divorced her--"for the future peace of France," he insisted--that his empire crumbled. The author of Royal Family (Salem House, 1986) has written history in the form of a romantic novel: it may read like fiction, but every fact is documented, each comment a direct quote from writings of the period. The style is simple and fluid, with only an occasional pedantic phrase, and Aronson artfully integrates quotes into a life story.
- Andrea Lee Shuey, Dallas P.L.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.