Laure Junot d"Abrantes was a childhood friend of the Bonapartes in Corsica. When she was 16 she married General Junot, Governor of Paris. She became one of the foremost hostesses of the era and played a major role at the flamboyant court of Napoleon and Josephine. Napoleon attempted to seduce her but failed. These memoirs bring to life the intimacies of the Imperial family and Napolean"s tumultuous years of power and ultimate defeat.