| ISBN |
9781760112936 (paperback) |
| Classification |
944.05 NAP |
| Personal Name |
Whitehead, Anne, 1942- |
| Title |
Betsy and the Emperor : the true story of Napoleon, a pretty girl, a Regency rake and an Australian colonial misadventure / Anne Whitehead. |
| Other title |
True story of Napoleon, a pretty girl, a Regency rake and an Australian colonial misadventure. |
| Publication Details |
Sydney : Allen & Unwin, 2015. |
| Production & Copyright Details |
Crows Nest, NSW Allen & Unwin, 2015 |
| ©2015 |
| Physical Description |
xi, 452 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), 1 map, portraits (some colour) ; 24 cm. |
| Content type |
text |
| still image |
| cartographic image |
| Note |
Record machine-generated from publisher information. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Summary Note |
After Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he was sent into exile on Saint Helena. He became an 'eagle in a cage', reduced from the most powerful figure in Europe to a prisoner on a rock in the South Atlantic. But the fallen emperor was charmed by the pretty teenage daughter of a local merchant, Betsy Balcombe. Anne Whitehead brings to life Napoleon's last years on Saint Helena, revealing the central role of the Balcombe family. She also lays to rest two centuries of speculation about Betsy's relationship with Napoleon. After Napoleon's death, Betsy travelled to Australia in 1823 with her father, who was appointed the first Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales. When the family lost their fortune, she returned to London and published a memoir which made her a celebrity. With her extraordinary connections to royalty and high society, Betsy Balcombe led a life worthy of a Regency romance, but she was always fighting for her independence. This new account reveals Napoleon at his most vulnerable, human and reflective, and a woman caught in some of the most dramatic events of her time. --Back cover. |
| Subject-Personal Name |
Balcombe, Betsy |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 -- Contemporaries |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 -- Captivity, 1815-1821 |
| Bonaparte, Napoleon |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 -- Contemporaries |
| Napoleon, -- Emperor of the French -- I,1769-1821 -- Exile, 1815-1821 -- Saint Helena |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 |
| Abell, Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe,-1871 -- Family |
| Abell, Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe,-1871 -- Diaries |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 -- Captivity, 1815-1821 |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 -- Contemporaries |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 -- Captivity, 1815-1821 |
| Napoleon, -- Emperor of the French -- I,1769-1821 -- Relations with women |
| Abell, Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe,-1871 |
| Abell, Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe,-1871 |
| Napoleon -- I,Emperor of the French,1769-1821 |
| Subject - Topical Term |
Emperors -- Biography |
| Teenagers -- Biography |
| Biography & True Stories. |
| Women -- Biography |
| Emperors -- France -- Biography |
| Empresses -- France -- Biography |
| Emperors |
| Empresses |
| Relations with women |
| "The Nib" Waverley Library Award for Literature Nominations (2016) |
| Subject - Geographic Name |
St Helena -- History -- 19th century |
| Australia -- History -- 19th century |
| France Kings and rulers -- Biography. |
| Saint Helena -- History |
| Australia -- History -- 19th century |
| Saint Helena -- History -- 19th century |
| Australia -- History -- 19th century |
| France -- History |
| France |
| Subject - Fiction Genre |
Australian |
| Subject - Genre |
Biography |
| History |
