Napoleon III and His Carnival Empire

488 Pages·1988·31.067 MB·English

by  John Bierman

ISBN >$SM.'l5
AND HIS CARNIVAL EMPIRE
Louis Napoleon, nephew to the famous
Bonaparte, is one of the most colorful historical
actors of the nineteenth century. Bohemian,
adventurer, and compulsive Don Juan, he
managed, to the astonishment of virtually
everyone, to be elected President of France in
1848 and within three years staged the coup
d etat that made him Emperor.
Reigned over by this genial roue and his
beautiful Empress Eugenie, the splendid circus
known as the Second Empire was one of the
most glittering and licentious epochs in French
—
history a time when the music of Offenbach,
the gowns of Worth, and the splendid new
boulevards of Haussmann brought Paris world
renown as the City of Light.
There was, of course, a weightier side to the
Second Empire. As Napoleon Louis was the
111,
arbiter of Europe and led his country into four
major wars. And in many ways his epoch marks
the beginning of modern politics. In the
techniques he used to gain and maintain power,
he anticipated the fascist dictators of the 1920s
and 30s. At the same time, in virtually inventing
—
politics-as-theater the campaign tour, the
—
media event, the calculated leak he also
foreshadowed modern-day democratic
politicians.
Behind the imperial glitter, Napoleon's
private life was the scandal of Europe. Apart
from his innumerable one-night encounters, his
mistresses included Harriet Howard, a wealthy
English courtesan who pawned her jewelry to
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Napoleon
III
AND
HIS
Carnival
Empire
Also by John Bierman:
FICTION
The Grown
Heart's Brutal
NON-FICTION
Righteous Gentile
Odyssey
Napoleon
III
AND
HIS
Carnival
Empire
Y
B
BIERMAN
JOHN
Martin's Press
St.
New York
—
NAPOLEON m AND HIS CARNIVAL EMPIRE. Copyright © 1988 by John Bierman.
No
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. part of
this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press,
New
175 Fifth Avenue, York, N.Y. 10010.
Design by Robert Bull Design
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bierman, John.
Napoleon III and his carnival empire / by John Bierman.
cm.
p.
ISBN 0-312-01827-4
1. Napoleon III—, Emperor of the French,—1808-187—3. 2. France
Kings and rulers Biography. 3. France History Second Empire,
1852-1870. Title.
I.
PC280.B53 1988
944.07'09l'4—19 87-38236
CIP
[B]
First Edition
987654321
10
For Hilary,
as ever,
and for Gloria,
who me
convinced that a cat
may, indeed, look at a king.
'
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