At the Court of Napoleon

Laure Permon came from an old Corsican family who immigrated to France around the same time Napoleon did. As a result the family had a strong relationship to the young Napoleon in his early years in France. Laure married Napoleon's friend General Junot in 1801 and as a result continued to be an insider during Napoleon's meteoritic rise. After the fall of the empire and the death of her husband Laure found herself deep in debt and in desperate need of money...so she wrote her memoirs. This book is an abridged version of the seven volumes of reminiscences she produced and is prefaced with an overview of her life and works by Oliver Bernier and Katell le Bourhis. The books were quite heavily padded out as writers were paid by the line when she wrote, so this volume gives you the best, and most important parts of her story. She is a vivid writer and it is surprising she's not more well known today. If you are looking for a first person account of life with Napoleon and his family and the events of the first empire then this is a good book to pick up as it is both entertaining and informative.