Ambition and Desire Book Reviews
Ambition and Desire by Kate Williams Book Summary
From CNN’s official royal historian, a highly praised young author with a doctorate from Oxford University, comes the extraordinary rags-to-riches story of the woman who conquered Napoleon’s heart—and with it, an empire.
Their love was legendary, their ambition flagrant and unashamed. Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife, Josephine, came to power during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of France. The story of the Corsican soldier’s incredible rise has been well documented. Now, in this spellbinding, luminous account, Kate Williams draws back the curtain on the woman who beguiled him: her humble origins, her exorbitant appetites, and the tragic turn of events that led to her undoing.
Born Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de La Pagerie on the Caribbean island of Martinique, the woman Napoleon would later call Josephine was the ultimate survivor. She endured a loveless marriage to a French aristocrat—executed during the Reign of Terror—then barely escaped the guillotine blade herself. Her near-death experience only fueled Josephine’s ambition and heightened her determination to find a man who could finance and sustain her. Though no classic beauty, she quickly developed a reputation as one of the most desirable women on the continent.
In 1795, she met Napoleon. The attraction was mutual, immediate, and intense. Theirs was an often-tumultuous union, roiled by their pursuit of other lovers but intensely focused on power and success. Josephine was Napoleon’s perfect consort and the object of national fascination. Together they conquered Europe. Their extravagance was unprecedented, even by the standards of Versailles. But she could not produce an heir. Sexual obsession brought them together, but cold biological truth tore them apart.
Gripping in its immediacy, captivating in its detail, Ambition and Desire is a true tale of desire, heartbreak, and revolutionary turmoil, engagingly written by one of England’s most praised young historians. Kate Williams’s searing portrait of this alluring and complex woman will finally elevate Josephine Bonaparte to the historical prominence she deserves.
Praise for Ambition and Desire
“Not just a scholarly work, but a page-turner . . . Williams is no stranger to creating works on strong and influential women, and, as in those works, here she does an admirable job of demystifying Josephine. . . . This engrossing and accessible account is for all readers who enjoy historical biography.”—Library Journal
“[A] riveting account . . . Williams perfectly illustrates all that was bizarre and maddening about French life during the reign of Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte.”—Publishers Weekly
“Intelligent and entertaining.”—Kirkus Reviews
“An in-depth portrait of the substantive woman behind the throne.”—Booklist
“Reading [Ambition and Desire] is like watching Silk Stockings, the 1957 Hollywood masterpiece with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. The book flows and jumps, taking the reader by the hand through tormented times in French history without ever letting you go or losing itself in the intricacies of French politics.”—The Times
“A sparkling account of this most fallible and endearing of women.”—Daily Mail
“A whirlwind tour of French history.”—The Telegraph
Book Name | Ambition and Desire |
Genre | Biographies & Memoirs |
Author | Kate Williams |
Published | 04 November 2014, Tuesday |
Language | English |
E-Book Size | 14.7 MB |
Ambition and Desire (Kate Williams) Book Reviews 2024
We transfer money over €4 billion every month. We enable individual and business accounts to save 4 million Euros on bank transfer fees. Want to send free money abroad or transfer money abroad for free? Free international money transfer!
Did you know that you can earn 25 USD from our site just by registering? Get $25 for free by joining Payoneer!
Imagine you at your best. All the time. Picture yourself at your sharpest and most productive. Your most alert and focused. Your most lucid, creative and confident. At work. At play. In every area of your life. Add Mind Lab Pro® v4.0 to your daily routine and uncap your true potential. Buy Now!
Adsterra is the most preferred ad network for those looking for an alternative to AdSense. Adsterra is the ideal choice for new sites with low daily traffic. In order to advertise on the site in Adsterra, like other ad networks, a certain traffic limit, domain age, etc. is required. There are no strict rules. Sign up!
Download Link | Book Format |
ambition-and-desire-ebook.pdf | |
ambition-and-desire-ebook.epub | EPUB |
ambition-and-desire-ebook.kindle | KINDLE |
Ambition and Desire E-book (PDF, PUB, KINDLE) Download
Ambition and Desire ebook ambition-and-desire (14.7 MB) download new links will be update!
Ambition and Desire Similar Books
Book Name | Score | Reviews | Price |
Meditations | 4.5/5 | 6 | Free |
Released | 0/5 | 0 | Pre-Order |
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin | 4.5/5 | 670 | Free |
A Stolen Life | 4.5/5 | 14,077 | $13.99 |
The Glass Castle | 4.5/5 | 4,012 | $13.99 |
Enhance sleep, vision, cognition, flexibility, energy, long-range health and more. Performance Lab CORE Formulas support all aspects of human performance, across all walks of life. Boosts work performance and productivity with nootropics for focus, multitasking under stress, creative problem-solving and more.
Book Name | Score | Reviews | Price |
Josefina | 0/5 | 0 | $22.99 |
The Royal Palaces | 0/5 | 0 | Pre-Order |
Into the Darkness | 0/5 | 0 | $17.99 |
Time Management | 0/5 | 0 | $8.99 |
Referencing and Understanding Plagiarism | 0/5 | 0 | $8.99 |
Summary of Ambition and Desire by Kate Williams
The Ambition and Desire book written by Kate Williams was published on 04 November 2014, Tuesday in the Biographies & Memoirs category. A total of 191 readers of the book gave the book 4.5 points out of 5.
Book Name | Author | Price |
The Simple Guide To Eminem | Chris Scott | Free |
Alexander the Great | Sean Patrick | Free |
Hunting the Grizzly | Theodore Roosevelt | Free |
Mary Queen of Scots | Jacob Abbott | Free |
Walt Disney | Mike Wood | Free |
Coinbase is the world's most trusted place to buy and sell cryptocurrency. Open an account today, and if you buy or sell $100 or more of crypto, you'll receive $10 worth of free Bitcoin!
Book Name | Author | Price |
Enough | Cassidy Hutchinson | $14.99 |
Brain on Fire | Susannah Cahalan | $12.99 |
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober | Catherine Gray | $6.99 |
The Worlds I See | Feifei Li | $14.99 |
American Prometheus | Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin | $14.99 |
Jasper is the generative AI platform for business that helps your team create content tailored for your brand 10X faster, wherever you work online.
Please wait! Ambition and Desire book comments loading...
Kate Williams - Ambition and Desire Discussions & Comments
Have you read this book yet? What do you think about Ambition and Desire by Kate Williams book? Ask the bookpedia.co community a question about Ambition and Desire!