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The Invisible Emperor
- Napoleon on Elba from Exile to Escape
- Narrated by: Mark Braude
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
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Publisher's summary
Part forensic investigation, part dramatic jailbreak adventure, Mark Braude's The Invisible Emperor is a gripping narrative history of Napoleon Bonaparte's 10-month exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba.
In the spring of 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated. Having overseen an empire spanning half the European continent and governed the lives of some eighty million people, he suddenly found himself exiled to Elba, less than 100 square miles of territory. This would have been the end of him, if Europe's rulers had had their way. But soon enough Napoleon imposed his preternatural charisma and historic ambition on both his captors and the very island itself, plotting his return to France and to power. After 10 months of exile, he escaped Elba with just of over 1,000 supporters in tow, landed near Antibes, marched to Paris, and retook the Tuileries Palace - all without firing a shot. Not long after, tens of thousands of people would die fighting for and against him at Waterloo.
Braude dramatizes this strange exile and improbable escape in granular detail and with novelistic relish, offering sharp new insights into a largely overlooked moment. He details a terrific cast of secondary characters, including Napoleon's tragically-noble official British minder on Elba, Neil Campbell, forever disgraced for having let "Boney" slip away; and his young second wife, Marie Louise who was 22 to Napoleon's 44, at the time of his abdication. What emerges is a surprising new perspective on one of history's most consequential figures, which both subverts and celebrates his legendary persona. The Invisible Emperor is both a riveting story and an original examination of how preposterous, quixotic, and grandiose ideas can suddenly leap from the imagination and into reality.
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Critic reviews
“A history of Napoleon’s short first exile, rendered in short, punchy chapters.... [H]e was there only 10 months and left with a flotilla of armed vessels. It’s great fun reading about the Allies’ attempts to predict his destination, and those anecdotes reinforce our knowledge of the emperor’s great talents.” (Kirkus)
“The Invisible Emperor details the deceptively calm but ultimately catastrophic interlude in the 25-year military career of one of history’s most famous soldiers, Napoleon.... Intriguing.” (BookPage)
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It is astonishing that Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator of South America, is not better known in the United States. He freed six countries from Spanish rule, traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback to do so, and became the greatest figure in Latin American history. His life is epic, heroic, straight out of Hollywood: he fought battle after battle in punishing terrain, forged uncertain coalitions of competing forces and races, lost his beautiful wife soon after they married and died relatively young, uncertain whether his achievements would endure.
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There will be blood.
- By Joselo on 08-02-13
By: Marie Arana
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Marquis
- Lafayette Reconsidered
- By: Laura Auricchio
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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A major biography of the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution, looks past the storybook general and selfless champion of righteous causes who, at the age of 19, volunteered to fight under George Washington, casting aside fortune and family (from one of France's oldest families; his ancestors served in the Crusades and alongside Joan of Arc) to advance the transcendent aims of liberty and justice.
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Lafayette: A Hit Abroad! & A Miss at Home!
- By James on 03-05-15
By: Laura Auricchio
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Eminence
- Cardinal Richelieu and the Rise of France
- By: Jean-Vincent Blanchard
- Narrated by: Mary Kane
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Chief minister to King Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu was the architect of a new France in the 17th century, and the force behind the nation's rise as a European power. Among the first statesmen to clearly understand the necessity of a balance of powers, he was one of the early realist politicians, practicing in the wake of Niccol Machiavelli. Truly larger than life, he has captured the imagination of generations, both through his own story and through his portrayal as a ruthless political mastermind in Alexandre Dumas's classic The Three Musketeers.
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Great story boringly told
- By pete k on 09-19-16
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Vienna 1814
- How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace
- By: David King
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The Napoleonic Wars had torn Europe apart, and the peace conference of 1814 was to be held in the continent's grandest city: Vienna. Everyone had an agenda in the postwar world, and spy networks, bitter hatreds, illicit affairs, and tangled alliances ensued.
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Not bad, but pronunciation not so good!
- By Mary-Jo on 10-06-08
By: David King
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Desert Queen
- The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia
- By: Janet Wallach
- Narrated by: Jean Gilpin
- Length: 20 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Turning her back on her privileged life in Victorian England, Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), fired by her innate curiosity, journeyed the world and became fascinated with all things Arab. Traveling the length and breadth of the Arab region, armed with a love for its language and its people, she not only produced several enormously popular books based on her experiences but became instrumental to the British foreign office. When World War I erupted, and the British needed the loyalty of the Arab leaders, it was Gertrude Bell's work and connections that helped provided the brain for T. E. Lawrence's military brawn.
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Great beginning, then gets boring
- By Msz on 03-31-16
By: Janet Wallach
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Lost Kingdom
- Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America's First Imperial Adventure
- By: Julia Flynn Siler
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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A thriving monarchy had ruled over Hawaii for generations. Taro fields and fish ponds had long sustained native Hawaiians but sugar plantations had been gradually subsuming them. This fractured, vulnerable Hawaii was the country that Queen Lili‘uokalani, or Lili‘u, inherited when she came to power at the end of the nineteenth century.
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Fascinating story, sparsely told
- By Great Tutu Kona on 01-17-12
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The Great Shame
- And the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World
- By: Thomas Keneally
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 35 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Keneally, the Booker Prize-winning author of Schindler’s List, is universally praised for crafting smooth narratives from authentic historical events. With The Great Shame, he turns his insightful eye toward the Irish struggle through the 19h century. In sharp contrast to much of Europe, Ireland was a terrible place to be during the 1800s. Many of the nation’s finest people set sail for America and Canada.
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First read
- By WGrubb on 04-08-16
By: Thomas Keneally
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A World on Fire
- Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War
- By: Amanda Foreman
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 32 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Even before the first rumblings of secession shook the halls of Congress, British involvement in the coming schism was inevitable. Britain was dependent on the South for cotton, and in turn the Confederacy relied almost exclusively on Britain for guns, bullets, and ships. The Union sought to block any diplomacy between the two and consistently teetered on the brink of war with Britain. For four years the complex web of relationships between the countries led to defeats and victories both minute and history-making.
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excellent narrative history
- By Daniel on 08-15-11
By: Amanda Foreman
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The Burning of the White House
- James and Dolley Madison and the War of 1812
- By: Jane Hampton Cook
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Told from multiple points of view - including those of James and Dolley Madison and a British admiral - this is the true story of the burning of the White House in 1814. It's unimaginable today, even for a generation that saw the Twin Towers fall and the Pentagon attacked. It's unimaginable because in 1814, enemies didn't fly overhead; they marched through the streets, and for 26 hours in August, the British enemy marched through Washington, DC, and set fire to government buildings, including the US Capitol and the White House.
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Written Like a Children's Book. Boring.
- By Mike on 01-20-17
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George Washington's Secret Six
- The Spy Ring That Saved America
- By: Brian Kilmeade, Don Yaeger
- Narrated by: Brian Kilmeade
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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From the cohost of Fox & Friends, the true story of the anonymous spies who helped win the Revolutionary War. Among the pantheon of heroes of the American Revolution, six names are missing. First and foremost, Robert Townsend, an unassuming and respected businessman from Long Island, who spearheaded the spy ring that covertly brought down the British
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Pretty good
- By Thomas on 09-24-15
By: Brian Kilmeade, and others
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Nathan Hale
- The Life and Death of America's First Spy
- By: M. William Phelps
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In this impressive, well-researched biography, Phelps separates historical fact from long-standing myth to reveal the life of Nathan Hale, a young man who deserves to be remembered as an original American patriot. Using Hale's own journals and letters as well as testimonies from his friends and contemporaries, Phelps depicts the Revolution as it was seen from the ground.
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Nathan Hale
- By Phillip Goodson on 05-03-09
What listeners say about The Invisible Emperor
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jean
- 10-27-18
Napoleon on Elba
I have been fascinated with Napoleon since I was a child. Needless to say, I read everything I can find about Napoleon. Mark Braude has this new book about Napoleon’s exile on Elba. Braude is a research fellow at Stanford University. Braude has chosen to explore the one part of Napoleon’s life that most historians have skipped over.
The British who had done the majority of the fighting against Napoleon were shoved aside during the decision making leading up to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, which exiled Napoleon to Elba and gave him sovereignty of the island. Braude did extensive research about this time frame of Napoleon’s life. I found it fun to read about the events and people knowing what is going to happened to them after they leave Elba.
Braude provides a great deal of information about Napoleon’s time on Elba. Some people may find it too much information, but not me. Braude has the concise writing style of a historian. I learned more about Napoleon. This book is going to make a good reference book to put on the shelf. If you are interested in Napoleon, this is a must-read book.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book just over nine hours. The author narrated the book.
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- Richard P. Marsden
- 04-18-19
Great story told in a great way.
History needs a strong narrative to be interesting. This takes a snapshot of Napoleon's life, that on Elba, and makes it fittingly grand, yet honest.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Henry
- 07-25-19
A fresh look...
If I have it right, this is the first book on Napoleon’s first, brief, exile on Elba in some time and for those of us who feel we know their history regarding the subject may learn much from Mr. Braude’s book.
The book moves at a brisk pace with short chapters.
Given that Mr. Braude wrote the book I would have expected his narration to be smoother. At times, often actually, it sounds as though he’d never seen the manuscript and violence is done to many otherwise rewarding sentences.
As a Napoleon freak, I greatly enjoyed the book.
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