This is the incredible rise and unbelievable
fall of a woman whose energy and ambition is often
overshadowed by Napoleon's military might. In this
triumphant biography, Kate Williams tells Josephine's
searing story, of sexual obsession, politics and
surviving as a woman in a man's world. Abandoned in
Paris by her aristocratic husband, Josephine's future
did not look promising. But while her friends and
contemporaries were sent to the guillotine during the
Terror that followed the Revolution, she survived prison
and emerged as the doyenne of a wildly debauched party
scene, surprising everybody when she encouraged the
advances of a short, marginalised Corsican soldier, six
years her junior. Josephine, the fabulous hostess
and skilled diplomat, was the perfect consort to the
ambitious but obnoxious Napoleon. With her by his side,
he became the greatest man in Europe, the Supreme
Emperor; and she amassed a jewellery box with more
diamonds than Marie Antoinette's. But as his fame grew,
Napoleon became increasingly obsessed with his need for
an heir and irritated with Josephine's extravagant
spending. The woman who had enchanted France became
desperate and jealous. Until, a divorcee aged
forty-seven, she was forced to watch from the sidelines
as Napoleon and his young bride produced a
child.
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