The Rebel Empresses

From the acclaimed author of In the Shadow of the Empress comes the thrilling chronicle of two of the most influential and glamorous women in nineteenth-century Europe-Elisabeth, empress of Austria, and Eugenie, empress of France-and their efforts to rule amid the scandal, intrigue, tragedy, and violence of their era. When they married Emperors Franz Joseph and Napoleon III, respectively, Elisabeth of Austria and Eugenie of France became two of the most famous women on the planet. Not only were they both young and beautiful-becoming cultural and fashion icons of their time-but they played a pivotal role in ruling their realms during a tempestuous era characterized by unprecedented political and technological change. Fearless, adventurous, and independent, Elisabeth and Eugenie represented a new kind of empress-one who rebelled against tradition and anticipated and embraced modern values. Yet both women endured hardship in their private and public lives. Elisabeth was plagued by a mother-in-law who snatched her infant children away and undermined her authority at court. Eugenie''s husband was an infamous philanderer who could not match the military prowess of his namesake. Between them, Elisabeth and Eugenie were personally involved in every major international confrontation in their turbulent century, which witnessed thrilling technological advances, as well as revolutions, assassinations, and wars. With her characteristic in-depth research and jump-off-the-page writing, Nancy Goldstone brings to life these two remarkable women, as Europe goes through the convulsions that led up to the international landscape we recognize today.

Auteur

Nancy Goldstone is the author of FOUR QUEENS, JOANNA, THE MAID AND THE QUEEN, THE RIVAL QUEENS and DAUGHTERS OF THE WINTER QUEEN. She lives in New York.

Visit her website for more information: www.nancygoldstone.com.

Texte du rabat

In THE REBEL EMPRESSES, beloved historian Nancy Goldstone chronicles the wild rollercoaster ride that was Europe in the nineteenth century through the lives of Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France. It's a story that has everything: passion, romance, scandal, intrigue, tragedy, danger, comedy (and one seriously controlling mother-in-law).

Elisabeth, known as Sisi, was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary by way of her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I - the man considered by many to be the greatest Habsburg ruler. Beautiful and glamorous, Sisi's life was filled with tragedy, including the suicide of her son and the death of her sister in a fire. Yet she was famously spirited and constantly at odds with her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie.

Born to Spanish nobility, Empress Eugénie of France was married to Napoleon III. A fashion icon and patron of the arts, she lived a glamorous life in Paris until the dramatic fall of the empire. For the rest of the life Eugénie lived as an exile in England, eventually becoming close friends with Queen Victoria herself.

THE REBEL EMPRESSES combines the stories of these two larger-than-life women to paint a vivid, insightful and vastly entertaining portrait of this tumultuous period in European history.

Résumé
A vivid historical adventure through the royal courts of nineteenth century Europe, telling the stories of rebel empresses Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France