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3.8 out of 5
75.00% of customers are satisfied
5.0 out of 5 stars A personal, elliptical meditation on life
This book is not easy to classify � part biography, part memoir, part essay. After Napoleon�s final defeat at Waterloo, the British exiled him to the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he lived the few remaining years of his life. This book, written in the early 1990s, consists of the author's sensitive and insightful musings on Napoleon�s life and death on the island, the relations between him and others in that most unnatural setting and those most unnatural circumstances, the history of St. Helena, the world of Napoleonic studies, the author's visit to St. Helena, and much else. The book is very elliptical and personal, and is perhaps best described as an extended meditation by Blackburne on life and human relationships as displayed in these events. Hard-core Napoleon fans and others looking for a straightforward narrative are likely to be disappointed (though I suspect that more insight into Napoleon's character can be gleaned from this book than from any more prosaic narrative). The book will appeal to readers who enjoy an intimate conversation with a thoughtful woman who, taking as her point of departure the unique and timeless spectacle at the core of the book, has much to say about all of us.
4.0 out of 5 stars Napoleon on St Helena
This book would appeal to anyone interested in history. My interest in the book stems from my own family history as my great great great grandfather went to the Island with his Regiment of the British Army in order to guard Napoleon when he was exiled there.The book tells the story of Napoleon's day to day life. It shows the hardships that were endured by Napoleon, the staff he brought with him, the soldiers and their families. It tells of the work that the soldiers performed apart from being guards in order to sustain themselves on the Island over the five and a half years that they were stationed there.I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the History of Napoleons incarceration on the Island.
5.0 out of 5 stars I am a great fan of Julia Blackburn and this book is another ...
I am a great fan of Julia Blackburn and this book is another gem. It's a very good description of his last few years in captivity on this desolate island. It would be rather topical this year on the 200th anniversary of his banishment to Saint Helena. He led a miserable and a frustrating existence but tried to put a brave face on it. Would recommend to history lovers.
4.0 out of 5 stars a greatest read and a unforgettable page-turner
A keenest interest in the remotest British overseas territory brought me to purchase this book and to read . Looking back, good that Napoleon was not sent to Tristan da Cunha but Saint Helena Island then. Lucky that his last island was Saint Helena,where I can fly sometime soon if the airport is completed. This amazing book has intensified my interest in history all the more. I will let my sons and daughters as well as my grand-children read this book without fail. Eddie Izumi
3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but dull
This must have been a difficult book to write. For one, the sadness that permeates the last years of Napoleon's life on Saint Helena does not lend itself to crafting a particularly engaging story. There is also the island itself, where the author spent 4 weeks with her family, and which she describes as a melancholy place located as far as can be from anywhere on earth. Julia Blackburn undoubtedly didn't want to stray far from her subject, that is, the Emperor's exile on the island. Nevertheless, I feel that she could have written a more detailed - and therefore a more interesting account- of his incarceration. For instance, she does not mention that Napoleon's body was brought back to France at the request of King Louis-Philiippe, a detail that I think is meaningful. I also found her description of "Napoleon's coffin [which] stands like a huge shiny lump of moulded chocolate" out of place, irreverent even. (The coffin is dark red porphyry carved to look like a sarcophagus). As a previous reviewer pointed out, she also made a few serious historical mistakes. I commend her for her effort (particularly for traveling to that remote island) but all in all, the book is disappointing.
5.0 out of 5 stars From Emperor as one of the greatest military strategist to a starving
This is the factual account of the last 5 years of Bonapartes life on St Helena. Written and researched perfectly. From Emperor as one of the greatest military strategist to a starving, terribly neglected, lonely man. He died of stomach cancer at the young age of 51 with hardly any one around. Such a waste.
4.0 out of 5 stars Emptiness
Julia Blackburn has produced a fascinating book in the style of travel writing which includes quite a lot of the author's domestic narrative. This is irritating for some readers but I found didn't detract from the larger collection of stories she was imagining and weaving together. "The Emperor's last island" begins with some fascinating natural history of the origins of St Helena and the impact of human settlement on the flora and fauna, but the bulk of the book is given over to reflections about Napoleon's last few years in exile. This isn't a history book as Blackburn makes clear, but it is disappointing nonetheless that she makes some elementary factual errors which either she or her editor should have corrected - including calling Napoleon's uncle, Cardinal Fesch, his brother in law! Sadness fills the accounts of these empty years in the same way damp can take over and eat away at an entire house. One feels so for the once great man, ruler of half the world, left to rot, emotionally, psychologically and physically on a tiny corner of an inhospitable island and constantly watched over by British soldiers and their bitter commander. He is left in the end with nothing but his memories and a few imperial trinkets to play with. Sic transit gloria mundi.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
yes!
Human tragedy
Fantastic book. Prose like Chatwin’s. Almost makes you feel bad for the dude.
interesting take on the Napoleon story.
Interesting given I live on St Helena. Liked the detail of locations and people on the Island and the story of Napoleon's time on St Helena.
Tired old pot boiler
Despite a fascinating subject this writer succeeds in producing a remarkably dull book. Whilst the blurb puts much store by the author visiting the island of St Helena to research the last days of the Emperor the result of her stay is about three or four pages of passing comment. The rest of the book is simply a rehash of narrative as available in tourist guides from the island or other books on the matter. Utterly disappointing.
Beware
I gave up on this dreadful book about page 4 when she says she had never been to St Helena but also did not know where it is!Then she gets there - with family - and totally misses finding Napoleon's house!Simply a record from other books and truly disappointing.I only continued to read it as I needed something to read - but it was a struggle,
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The Emperor's Last Island: A Journey to St. Helena
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