Author Description

Four walks through Paris trace Napoleon and Josephine's courtship, Napoleon's student days at the École Militaire, the coronation and reign, and, finally, the path that Napoleon's funeral cortège took nearly twenty years after his death. Readers visit the prison where Josephine was held during the Terror, the site of the house where Napoleon plotted the coup d'état, restaurants where the couple dined, and the jewelers Napoleon commissioned to make the dazzling royal crowns, timepieces, and swords; itineraries for Malmaison and Fontainebleau are also included. This pocketable guide evokes a panoramic sweep of French history and describes the public grandeur as well as the daily intimacy of Napoleon and Josephine's lives.