Hortense de Beauharnais: The Fateful Years of a Queen

Countess de Beauharnais, Madame Bonaparte, Queen Hortense, Première Dame de France (First Lady of France) and finally Duchess of St. Leu are just some of the titles by which Queen Hortense was known in the course of her fateful life. They exemplify a biography that could not have been more poignant. To mark the 175th anniversary of her death, a new illustrated account of her life has been published in German, French and English by the curators of the Arenenberg Museum, Dominic Gügel and Christina Egli. Though in magazine format, it contains a collection of fifteen detailed articles chronologically detailing her life, from her childhood in Paris to the flight after Waterloo and her life in exile. Packed full of little-known pictures and fascinating details on Hortense's eventful life, this is a “must have” for all those interested in both the First and Second Empires.