The Last Great Dance on Earth

Gulland achieves an amazing feat not always shared by her fellow historical novelists....she captures your heart, or I should say, her characters do. You may not always sympathize with them, but you walk in their shoes, and when they are in danger, or sad, or joyful, you are too. If all high-schoolers were assigned to read these 3 novels, they would have terrific discussions about literature, history and government....this novel above all drives home the fact of continuous betrayal and treachery when you are at the top. Politics is just so darned messy!! And yet Napoleon and Josephine both come across as extremely human characters who are sometimes humane, sometimes not. Gulland has created classics in the best sense.

I love these historical novels. Sandra Gulland has history and imagination and great writing skills going for her. I just finished this book and can say only a few things since I am still more with Josephine than with myself: She's really entered the mind and heart of another woman, another era. I completely lose myself in her words and the loss is all gain. By which I mean: I gain my own imagination back while reading of Josephine. And most of all, this is a writer you can TRUST.

Excellent book! Great series! I read this one in a night.This third and final installment marked the final chapters in the life of Josephine, beginning with Napoleon's reign of power and ending with Josephine's death. Each page is filled with stories of Napoleon's love, their mutual passion, and Josephine's strength in the face of adversity. It was inspiring to discover how much she endured. Despite the difference in time periods, I think many of Josephine's trials (infidelity, anger, sacrifice) are relevant today. This is an inspiring book to read if you're going through a difficult time.I still can't believe how fast a read this is -- how compelling -- how interesting. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't put it down. This is surprising to me, as I've never seemed to gravitate to history books. This book, however, is one amazing exception.

Sandra Gulland is amazing! Until I picked up the first of her Josephine books, my interest in (and knowledge of) Napoleon, Josephine, and French history was minimal. I'm now enthralled! This final book in her trilogy was anxiously awaited, and I could not have been more pleased (unless, of course, history had allowed Ms. Gulland and Josephine a happier ending). The diary-style writing makes it a quick page-turner, and it truly seems as if you are reading Josephine's thoughts. Ms. Gulland blends historical fact with passionate emotion to give the reader a wonderful, personal look at two of history's most intriguing individuals, as well as a "first-hand" tale of life during that tumultuous era in France. I can't stop telling everyone about these books and my new fascination with Josephine - and I'm giving the trilogy as Christmas gifts to several people this year!

This is the third book in Sandra Gulland's series about Josephine Bonaparte. It is best to read all three books. They are all quick reads, very hard to put down. I had anxiously awaited the publication of this third book and I was not disappointed. This book follows Josephine from the early years of Napoleon's era as First Consul of France, through their coronation as Emperor and Empress, their divorce and Jopsephine's final years. It paints a portrait of a fascinating woman. The reader finishes the book with an understanding of how little control even the most powerful people have over their own lives. These three books enlightened me to Jopsephine's world and also increased my appetite for more books about Napoleon and his family.