THE EMPEROR'S LAST ISLAND [Hardcover]

Julia Blackburn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 1992

An account of Napoleon's six years on the island of St. Helena describes the island's strange history and recounts the stories, myths, and absurdities that have arisen about Napoleon's stay there.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

After his defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena--"further away from anywhere than anywhere else in the world," writes Julia Blackburn, who describes the final years of Napoleon's life on this remote rock in the South Atlantic Ocean, where he died in 1821. A handful of quarreling sycophants accompanied him during his exile, all vying for favors and tolerating the former general's constant cheating at card games. Meanwhile, a contingent of British soldiers kept him under close observation. They feared that he would escape, but an attempt was never made. Interestingly, Blackburn disputes the theory that Napoleon was assassinated by arsenic poisoning. She adds details of her own trip to the island, which continues to serve as a bleak outpost of the British Empire. It was apparently once a place of great natural splendor, but early visitors cut down its trees, which loosened the soil for the eroding winds; the island never really recovered. A few maps and photos would have helped, but this unique book deserves attention from all Napoleon fans. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Described by the author as a place "further away from anywhere than anywhere else in the world," St. Helena is an island, ten-and-one-half miles long and six miles wide, located in the middle of the South Atlantic, on whichNapoleon spent the last six years of his life in exile (1815-1821). British author Blackburn offers an interesting account of Napoleon's difficult existence on this windy, rainy, rat-infested island, as he and his servants strove to maintain the fiction that he remained a powerful emperor. Interwoven with this chronicle the author presents the history of St. Helena, from its discovery in 1502 by Portuguese explorers through British occupation to 1989, when Blackburn visited St. Helena and retraced Napoleon's steps. Part biography, part travelogue, this is an engaging and unusual narrative.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 277 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1st edition (May 5, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067941150X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679411505
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 1.2 x 6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #898,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A personal, elliptical meditation on life, February 9, 2002

By 

"warrenrop" (Greater New York City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: THE EMPEROR'S LAST ISLAND (Hardcover)

This book is not easy to classify  part biography, part memoir, part essay. After Napoleons final defeat at Waterloo, the British exiled him to the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he lived the few remaining years of his life. This book, written in the early 1990s, consists of the author's sensitive and insightful musings on Napoleons life and death on the island, the relations between him and others in that most unnatural setting and those most unnatural circumstances, the history of St. Helena, the world of Napoleonic studies, the author's visit to St. Helena, and much else. The book is very elliptical and personal, and is perhaps best described as an extended meditation by Blackburne on life and human relationships as displayed in these events. Hard-core Napoleon fans and others looking for a straightforward narrative are likely to be disappointed (though I suspect that more insight into Napoleon's character can be gleaned from this book than from any more prosaic narrative). The book will appeal to readers who enjoy an intimate conversation with a thoughtful woman who, taking as her point of departure the unique and timeless spectacle at the core of the book, has much to say about all of us.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I have seen Napoleon face to face., September 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Emperor's Last Island: A Journey to St. Helena (Paperback)

I have dined off his fine china and watched him play with the children of his initial host on the island. I have been transported through time and space, a reaction I have had only rarely. Ms. Blackburn has created a reality worthy of attention. The aura of the house, the luminosity of Napoleon's complexion and the thinking of his English overseers are only a part of that reality. The prose is clear and compelling. The past, the natural history of St. Helena and Ms. Blackburn's present day doings complement one another. On the map, St. Helena is as much "in the middle of nowhere" as any place on earth. And Ms. Blackburn makes going there an enlightening journey.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest, most readable books I have ever read., July 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Emperor's Last Island: A Journey to St. Helena (Paperback)

This is a beautifully written book, not in any poetic sense, but in the sense of being readable and thoroughly interesting. I feel that I personally have visited St Helena and viewed the remains of the places visited and lived in by Napoleon during his exile until his death. EXCELLENT!!!!