In 1839, a red-haired girl in search of adventure ran away from an English boarding school and attempted to board a ship headed for India. Her name was Eugenie de Montijo, and within fifteen years, she would be Empress of France, and one of the most powerful women in the world.
Eugenie's unconventional life began in the dying days of the Spanish empire, would take her to the literary salons of Paris and, finally, to the throne of France itself as the wife of Napoleon III. Famed for her beauty and her athleticism, she would become a powerful advocate for women and children's rights. She created haute couture as we know it, all while displaying a razor-sharp understanding of geopolitics. But the triumphs of her life were coupled with heartbreak and tragedy, and today her legacy is barely known.
The Last Empress of France is a gloriously witty and entertaining biography of one of history's most charismatic figures, and a thoughtful exploration of the century that shaped her, and which she shaped in turn.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'Kladstrup and Resnick offer a wonderful portrait of Empress Eugenie: a trailblazing feminist, rebel, diplomat and cultural powerhouse who championed science and the arts, and who transformed Paris into the world capital of luxury and style. Unjustly forgotten by history, she emerges here as a visionary woman - and as a delight for lovers of history featuring strong, complex women' Ross King, author of Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling 'The Last Empress of France delights from the very first sentence. Thoroughly researched and gracefully written, this untold story will keep you up reading late into the night' Martin Dugard, author of Taking Midway
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Maße
Höhe: 198 mm
Breite: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7156-5671-6 (9780715656716)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Petie Kladstrup is the author, together with her husband, Don, of Wine and War: The French, the Nazis and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure and Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times. Petie divides her time between Paris and Normandy, France.
Evelyne Resnick was born and raised in Paris. She developed an early passion for literature and history from various cultures and languages, culminated with a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne on the social status and the literary image of women writers in modern France. She splits her time between Bordeaux and California.
