BORN
in Paris during the 1848 revolution, Leonie Michel's early
life is blighted by illness, drama and tragedy. But as she
grows into a beautiful woman, the glittering capital of France's
Second Empire opens up to her.
Her father, a brilliant doctor, develops a miraculous cure
and Leonie starts mixing in high society. She meets celebrated
writers, artists and musicians, not to mention the heroes
of the French Army and their gilded women.
The Emperor Napoleon III is enchanted by her and encourages
her ambition to become an actress. But danger and repeated
heartbreak lie ahead and even worse is to follow when the
Prussians invade France and besiege Paris.
Leonie's family and friends are caught
up in the fighting and the vicious civil war that follows. In
her quest for peace and happiness, Leonie flees to England where
her path again crosses that of the Emperor.
Tony Boullemier was born in 1945 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in
north east Englandand educated at the city'sRoyal Grammar
School and Reading University. He trained
as a reporter with the Newcastle Journal and at 23 joined the
Daily Express in London where he became one of Fleet Street's
youngest sub-editors. Read
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Why he wrote Leonie and the last
Napoleon
All journalists are convinced they have a book in
them. They just need time and inspiration. Tony was lucky
to have the time. And even luckier when inspiration arrived
in the shape of a battered old diary, handed down to him after
his father died. Read
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