FanFare

An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.
posted by cozenedindigo on Nov 27, 2023 - 17 comments

In 1808, Napoleon visited the Royal Convent of Santa Clara de Tordesillas, where the abbess convinced him to release three prisoners that were about to be executed. Unfortunately, the abbess has unexpectedly died before she met Napoleon. Now, the Ministry must send a replacement to convince him not to execute the prisoners, as one of them is an ancestor of Adolfo Suárez González, the first Prime Minister of Spain after the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Adolfo guided Spain through its transition to a democracy. His ancestor must survive! [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 29, 2018 - 4 comments

The boys discuss Ridley Scott's The Duellists, and the historical significance of Napoleon, with guest Twitter's Trillburne, who's starting his own all-Napoleon podcast.
posted by grobstein on Mar 11, 2017 - 4 comments

You will be unhappily wed. You will be widowed. You will be queen. "When Marie-Josephe-Rose Tascher was a girl in Martinique, a voodoo priestess predicted that she would be unhappily married, would then be widowed, and would become queen. With the profits from her father's sugar plantation spent largely on his gambling and drinking, the final prediction seems unlikely. An arranged marriage takes Rose to France, where she finds herself woefully uneducated and unprepared for high society. But in 1779 no one is prepared for the bloody upheaval that will convulse France for years. Rose endures her husband's infidelity and abandonment before his execution leaves her a widow. Combining charm, intelligence, empathy, and luck, she copes with poverty and prison, surviving the revolution with her children. " -- Library Journal [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee on Aug 2, 2016 - 3 comments