Pauline Bonaparte

the long version

From acclaimed biographer Flora Fraser, the brilliant life of Napoleon's favorite sister. Celebrated for her looks, notorious for her passions, immortalized by Antonio Canova's statue, and always deeply loyal to her brother, Pauline Bonaparte Borghese is a fascinating figure in her own right. At the turn of the nineteenth century, she was considered by many to be the most beautiful woman in Europe. She shocked the continent with the boldness of her love affairs, her opulent wardrobe and jewels, and, most famously, her decision to pose nearly nude for Canova's sculpture. But just as remarkable as Pauline's private life was her fidelity to the emperor (if not to her husbands). No biographer has gone so deeply into the sources or so closely examined one of the seminal relationships of the man who shaped modern Europe. Fraser has cast new light on the Napoleonic era while crafting a dynamic portrait of a mesmerizing woman.--From publisher description.