To Befriend an Emperor: Betsy Balcombe's Memoirs of Napoleon on St Helena

by Betsy Balcombe, J. David Markham (Editor)

Young Elizabeth Balcombe, or Betsy to friends and family, found life on the remote island of St Helena intolerably dull. Most fourteen-year-olds would. Her father had been posted to that unforgiving station in the Atlantic and, being a family man, he took his family with him.


Life was bleak in Balcombe's bungalow on the fringe of James Town. But then, in October 1815, the situation was transformed by the arrival of an unusual visitor. Napoleon Bonaparte, one-time master of Europe, now prisoner and exile, stepped ashore. The Balcombes, like all the islanders, were amazed. And even more so when Napoleon, taking a fancy to their bungalow (the Briars) moved in with them. Betsy, overcoming her surprise at sharing her home with an emperor, delighted in his company and the two became firm friends.

Miss Betsy Balcombe made the most of her time with the world's most famous prisoner, keenly observing all around her, noting down conversations, recording moods. The result is a unique set of memoirs which records in astonishing detail an almost unbelievable story. That of how a precocious teenager and an emperor talked, argued, played, confided and teased their way through grim years of exile on the barren rock of St Helena.


This attractive, illustrated edition brings this remarkable story back to life.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, France

189 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2005

About the author

Lucia Elizabeth ″Betsy″ Balcombe Abell (1802 / 29 June 1871) was a friend of Napoleon I during his exile at Saint Helena.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_B...

Reviews

[Misfit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Napoleon's second exile was to the island of St. Helena - just look that up on a map and see how remote it was. When he arrived Longwood was not ready for him, and he resided for a time with the Balcombe family and a friendship was born. The Balcombes had two daughters, the younger Betsy and she and Napoleon became very fond of each other. The Balcombes eventually left the island, eventually being reassigned to New South Wales (Australia). As an adult Betsy wrote about her experiences with the Emperor, and it is rather refreshing to see the man from the point of view of someone without the involvement of politics.

The book I obtained via inter-library loan was published in 2005, and as I understand it there's been a bit of editing to restore names that were ----------- out in the original version. At just under 200 pages it's a quick easy read, with larger font and generous line spacing. There are plenty of images of the characters, as well as drawings of some of the local highlights of this small volcanic island in the back-of-beyond. Worth hunting down for those interested in Betsy's story, but we don't learn anything of her life after St. Helena in this volume. I'd also recommend St. Helena Story if you can hunt down a copy, that being written by a descendant of the Balcombes, Dame Mabel Brookes.

[Micaylah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting angle to read about the very human Napoleon. It makes one think that if he had had many children his life would have been tempered by their very presence.

I'm glad Ms Balcombe decided to write her memories later in life. She was right in concluding that it was better to wait to put pen to paper as an adult. Although there are memory gaps history revealed those and were able to be mostly filled in or conjectured with footnotes. Also if published earlier it would have been lost in obscurity or deemed the musings of a little girl too young to be so astute.

But she was quite bright and lived away from any real influence of the doings of the world at the time. Indeed when she heard the famous Emperor was being exiled to her tiny rock, her and many others thought a monster was coming to live among them.

The relationship between her and Napoleon was probably unique in both their lives. Her to relate to a worldly adult and him to the naivete of a child.

A good read, especially with the release of this memoir with footnotes.

It is indeed sad that her life continued on in such a manner that it did.

[elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most unique, sweet, and beautiful memoirs on Napoleon. I feel like it's good for beginners to read. I found it quite easy to understand. I hate that so many media tries to potray this adorable dad/daughter or uncle/niece duo as something romantic when it clearly wasn't. It's also very bittersweet :'))

[Rahmadiyanti]

Habis baca Betsy Balcombe: Caesar and I, jadi penasaran baca kisah aslinya.

[Betsy Balcombe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I have obviously borrowed a pseudonym. LOVED this book. The French version is excellent: La Petite Fiancee de Napoleon.