Rating: 
Summary: Best Series of Books!
Review: I started with book #1 and immediately found myself caught up in a wonderful story. Romance, adventure, wonderful characters from history brought to life! I ran to Amazon.com to get the second book. I read this in one sitting! I could not put it down. And finally, the 3rd book that brought it all home. A fantastic series of books. You won't want them to end!
Rating: 
Summary: I've Read Better
Review: On the whole, I found this biography to be rich with detail and historical accuracies. It was an entertaining read and I recommend it to anyone who likes to read history. However, I found that Erickson was a little too biased in her position on the Empress; I felt as though I were reading a fluffed-up account of her life, to the point where the reader has no choice but to see her as an angel in a den of thieves--and she was hardly an angel. Erickson asserts that she knows the Empress well enough to make assumptions as to how she felt, or what she was thinking. It is also obvious that the author has a bias against Napoleon and her relationship with him. If the reader had no previous knowledge of their relationship, he would be confused. Erickson says on the one-hand how miserable Josephine was over her marriage to him, yet is mad with jealousy within the next few pages. There is no real development of their relationship. The authors feelings for her subject come through a bit too stong for my taste.
Rating: 
Summary: A Rose by Another Name
Review: Reading biographies in general can be a tricky thing, they can be either too textbook and boring, or they can be very enjoyable. I must say that the latter is true for this book.Carolly Erickson draws the reader into the life and very turbulent times of the French Revolution. It is amazing that Josephine became the Empress of France. Josephine Bonaparte was a true surviver for her time, even growing up on a failing sugar cane farm on Martinique and later in France as a prisoner. Unlike many biographies that I have read, this one reads easy. What I mean there is a fluid way in which Erickson writes, drawing in the reader like any good fiction novelist. I quickly read this book, devouring every page.
Rating:
Summary: A Rose by Another Name
Review: Reading biographies in general can be a tricky thing, they can be either too textbook and boring, or they can be very enjoyable. I must say that the latter is true for this book. Carolly Erickson draws the reader into the life and very turbulent times of the French Revolution. It is amazing that Josephine became the Empress of France. Josephine Bonaparte was a true surviver for her time, even growing up on a failing sugar cane farm on Martinique and later in France as a prisoner. Unlike many biographies that I have read, this one reads easy. What I mean there is a fluid way in which Erickson writes, drawing in the reader like any good fiction novelist. I quickly read this book, devouring every page.
Rating:
Summary: An Unlikely Empress
Review: This was my first read of Carolly Erickson, and I was enthralled by her writing style. Yes, the book reads like a novel, but I don't find this detrimental. One of the biggest problems with historical biographies are they are often heavy and dull, and I don't think this should be the case when describing extraordinary times and events. I felt like I was transplanted "into the period;" and while Josephine had qualities pro and con, I found her to be accessible and human. A lot of times with biographies, I ended hating the subject by the time I am done, because the author relishes revealing the subject's tarnished persona in such an unflattering light. Ms. Erickson's Josephine I liked, despite her evident flaws. My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?
Rating:
Summary: An Unlikely Empress
Review: This was my first read of Carolly Erickson, and I was enthralled by her writing style. Yes, the book reads like a novel, but I don't find this detrimental. One of the biggest problems with historical biographies are they are often heavy and dull, and I don't think this should be the case when describing extraordinary times and events. I felt like I was transplanted "into the period;" and while Josephine had her share of vices, I found her accessible and human. A lot of times with biographies, I end up hating the subject, because the author relishes revealing the subject's tarnished persona in such an unflattering light. Ms. Erickson's Josephine I liked, despite her evident flaws. My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?
Rating:
Summary: Josephine - full of tears
Review: Though this book gives the reader insight into Josephine Bonaparte and the life in the late 1700's and early 1800's the writing is lacking in richness and at times choppy - no expansion on the descriptions to create the real vision, taste, sense or feel of what was going on. There was much more the author could have added to embrace the difficulties of Josephine's life and this volatile time in history. And though this was a book about Josephine, I felt the lack of historical references to event's happening in and to France left the mind questioning about how that impacted the lives of the people at the time, and may have been an insight into all the tears.
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