Napoleon's Family

Desmond Seward is a popularizer, and this book has no footnotes, but it is a fantastic book and is fast reading. It tells the almost unbelievable story of Napolean and his siblings: Joseph (1768-1844), Lucien (1775-1840), Elisa (1777-1820), Louis (1778-1846), Pauline (1780-1824), Caroline (1782-1839) and Jerome (1784-1860). What an immoral lot--one is shocked by the sexual excess thay all indulged in. This is a good book, with a genealogical table and telling what became of them and their descendants. But the way Seward writes, it is not serious history. But it is fun to read, and you will be amazed by how quickly Napolean and his family assumed the vices of royalty.