Josephine & Napoleon

by Margaret Irene Laing

"History of the relationship between Napoleon and his wife, Josephine"

196 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Leslie Addison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Not a long book but very detailed into the chaotic life and times of Napoleon and Josephine through to her death. A bit tedious yet I found myself fascinated to learn more about this Emperor whose home I toured in Elba. He was clearly mentally unstable, narcissistic and addicted to receiving “adoration” from Josephine. Josephine, although seemingly in love with Napoleon’s devotion, behaved as an abused partner unable to free herself from his emotional grip. This read like a sad and wearily unhealthy love story with a bad ending. Money cannot buy happiness or love. And the power seized through narcissistic overtures will always come to an end when you stumble in your own doo-doo.

I forced myself to finish this book and now it’s finally over.

[Meg Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the best biography I’ve read, but it’s still pretty good. It would serve as a good introduction that’s not too overwhelming. The full-colored portraits and other pictures are gorgeous, informative, and fascinating. The analysis doesn’t go as deep as I would care for, but some areas are golden nuggets worthy of holding onto. Some of the memoirs are not treated with as much skepticism as they should, which perpetuates misinformation. Overall, it’s a decent biography with some passages I’ll treasure forever.

[Kelly Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read this because I wanted to know more about these two after listening to the musical NAPOLEON with Jerome Pradon. The book held my interest, which is saying a lot, because I'm not really a history buff, per se. Of course, this book was primarily about the relationship between Napoleon and Josephine, and not about Napoleon's military stuff (the military stuff was talked about when relevant, but not in great detail). I was very fascinated by the letters and quotes from memoirs of people who knew them, as well as from Napoleon and Josephine themselves.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!