Napoleon's Purgatory is a work portraying the human side of Napoleon as revealed by those who shared his exile on the island of St. Helena. Through the diaries and journals of the Emperor's servants, generals, and companions come the stories of Napoleon's tender love for children, his captivating sense of humor, his eternal love for Josephine, and his agonizing death. Napoleon Bonaparte was sent by the British to the remote island of St. Helena where he could not escape. What followed were six excruciating years of loneliness and depression, mixed with frolicking play with the island's children, a battle of wills with his British captor, an exploration of his lapsed Catholic faith, and the complex relationship with the members of his entourage. This time in exile was akin to time served in Purgatory for Napoleon. His humanity, suffering, joy in the laughter of children, and longing for Josephine are captured vividly in this work through the detailed use of primary sources written by those who were there. While many considered Napoleon Bonaparte the "Corsican Ogre" for the wars he waged across Europe, he was anything but during his exile on St. Helena.
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The primary mission of this fascinating study of Napoleon's final exile on St. Helena is to humanize history's larger than life perceptions of this military and political icon. Barden's work peels away the layers of partisan stereotypes about Napoleon as the “Corsican Ogre”, an image that was used to frighten naughty children among Napoleon's European enemies.
Drawing on extensive diaries and memoirs written by several of those among Napoleon's entourage who shared his confinement on St. Helena, these revealing sources offer great insights. They paint an intimate portrait of Napoleon's character and temperament by analyzing his day-to-day interactions during the six years of his very restricted confinement on St. Helena from October 1815 until his painful death there in May 1821. Napoleon himself proclaimed “You may make my body prisoner, but my soul is free.”
Barden's revealing work sheds light on Napoleon's resentment toward his British guardians; his playful love of children; his strong emotional ties to the Balcombe family, especially young Betsy; the personal tensions within his own entourage; his skeptical interactions with his doctors; his virulent conflicts with the British commander Governor Lowe; and his deep affection in absentia for his wives Josephine and Marie Louise, and his son.
Despite his physical ailments and the military constraints on his actions and movements, Barden shows that Napoleon greatly valued the friendships with his associates on St. Helena. He said “There is nothing like having friends in time of war….One doesn't need many. Above all, there must be friends. They take the place of so much more!”
David W. King,
SUNY Professional Science Master's Consortium
