Customer Reviews

Walks Through Napoleon & Josephine's Paris

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Diana Reid Haig has produced a delightful book that is at once fascinating and useful. She tells short anecdotal stories of Napoleon and Josephine and their times while showing us beautiful photographs of the places they would have known and then showing us how to find them. No one who is interested in Napoleon should ever visit Paris without consulting this book, and even those who will never set foot on the Champs-Élysées will enjoy thumbing through its pages and reading Haig's well-written little vignettes of one of history's most famous love stories.

The book is organized into four "walks," which generally correspond to Napoleon's early career and meeting of Josephine, life as First Consul, the coronation, and the return of Napoleon's body in 1840. To these she adds a tour of Fontainebleau and Malmaison, two places where Napoleon and Josephine lived. Each walk comes with a map that clearly shows the major places she discusses as well as shops and other areas of interest. The maps are easy to follow and a dotted line traces her suggested route. A map of Paris showing where in the greater scheme of things these maps fit would have been useful, but any visit to Paris will be enhanced by this book.

One of Haig's most endearing qualities as a writer is her ability to provide interesting and useful information in a way that both informs and entertains. Throughout her book we hear of some of the standard discussions of Napoleon and Josephine, such as her affair and their near breakup after his Egyptian campaign. But we also are given brief glimpses into their daily lives and their relationship with the buildings that we can see on her tours. Haig also includes interesting "side boxes" on topics the basics of which are common knowledge but the unknown details of which can be quite interesting. For example, we all know of Napoleon's famous hat, but from Haig we learn that he ordered four a year as First Consul and later had at least fifty ordered from his hatter, Poupard, who charged exorbitant rates. Indeed, Haig presents enough interesting history that a scholarly reader is left wishing she had provided references.

This wonderful little book is like none other that I have seen. It is beautifully produced and well written. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in seeing and understanding Napoleon and Josephine's Paris.

J. David Markham, Author
Napoleon's Road to Glory: Triumphs, Defeats and Immortality
Imperial Glory: The Bulletins of Napoleon's Grande Armée

I had the delightful privilege of hearing Mme. Haig read from her book at the French Institute in New York which in turn, plunged me into an exuberant frenzy to learn as much as I could about Napoleon and even more so - Josephine. Mme. Haig's writing comes from a genuine passion about her subjects and is wonderfully researched, with fascinating detail. Should you be travelling to Paris with a teenager, this book could ignite a passion in them as well about history before Britney Spears' first marriage.

A fantastic book and a visual treat. Napoleon and Josephine come to life and as their stories unfold, I felt like I was there. Now I want to go to Paris and visit all the buildings, monuments, restaurants, shops that are so vividly described. Even people who don't usually like history will be charmed.

To my fellow Francophiles, I say this is a must read. To my fellow Napoleon/Josephine buffs, you must get this book!
Within this small book are multiple tours that would make a trip to Paris to explore what in my mind's eye, at least, I've tried to envision so many times, so much easier: What was Paris like when Napoleon and Josephine were alive? If, and I hope soon, I travel to Paris, how would I find all the places the Emperor and Empress frequented?
You'll find maps, including places important in the lives of Napoleon and Josephine. There's more - you'll also be led to restaurants and shops they visited, too.
The pictures are beautiful, and the text is a wonderful review for those who gobble up texts about the private lives of Napoleon and Josephine, yet simple enough to give beginners just a taste.
Merci, Madame Haig!

Diana Reid Haig's beautiful, well researched book is invaluable on two levels; as a work of art and as a practical walking guide. Walks Through Napoleon and Josephine's Paris will interest Francophiles as well as those who love history and art. This extremely readable history of Napoleon and Josephine chronicles the rise and fall of the doomed couple--a history which is also inexorably linked with the history of France and the French Revolution.

A blend of words and art, Haig's book is wonderful to page through, but is also a great read. I recommend this work to both armchair travelers and frequent visitors to Paris. This book is a brilliant new way to see and enjoy Paris.

It's a great book and must have taken a great deal of time and research. I did not know about all the improvements Napoleon made to Paris. Delightful.

An excellent book with a different perspective. It is not only well written but beautifully printed and bound. A joy to read and to walk in the very steps of these two historic and romantic personalities. Take it along on your next trip to Paris.Floyd McRae, Napoleonic Alliance, International Napoleonic Society.

Delightful, informative, exciting. Great for a sophisticated traveler -- a perfect gift for any tourist planning a trip to Paris -- and also a stimulating, fun read. I loved it.

"WT" = Walks Through Napoleon & Josephine's Paris, Diana Reid Haig; The
Little Bookroom (2004)


(To the publisher, The Little Bookroom; 05/15/10 EM)

"Dear Little Bookies:

"Just finished "Walks Through Napoleon & Josephine's Paris."

"Splendid writing (incapable of improvement); stunning art work; and the two methods of presentation are flawlessly integrated.

"With appreciation of the good luck I had when I found WTN&J, and wishing you the same, sincerely..."

And the best part was that it flushed out the psychic damage done by that learnedly incompetent biography of Sumner Welles (a 380-page literary Bataan Death March). Unfortunately, another horrid Preakness race is being run today & the damage done - "This is NBC, at Pimlico, bringing you the second leg of the Triple Crown from a permanent slum!' - cannot be countermanded by any known author.