Josephine
A Life of the Empress

I listened to the audiobook version of this. I spent the first few chapters confused as to why I was listening the a biography of some chick named Rose Tascher from Martinique. Clearly I was not familiar at all with the subject. I had to Google Rose de Beauharnaise to find out they were the same per......more

Carolly Erickson has made a career of writing biographies of history's female royalty. Josephine tells the story of the legendary Josephine Beauharnais Bonaparte. Born of impoverished minor aristocrats who grew sugar cane on island of Martinique, Josephine, then called Rose, grew up far from the gra......more

Erickson is a fine writer who maintains admirable focus and pace in recounting an amazing life. She combines a sympathetic, almost novelistic style with solid research, documented in endnotes. Josephine's rise from an impoverished girl from the boondocks (the tiny island of Martinique) to the empress......more

Una vita incredibile, quella di Giuseppina Beauharnais in Bonaparte. E' riuscita a stare a galla sia nel marasma delirante post-rivoluzione, sia pre-post durante Napoleone! Lo stress l'ha uccisa ma almeno per un po' se l'è goduta la vita. Una biografia non del tutto acritica (certe scelte narrative......more