Hortense

Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot), 1805-1877Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 404K words
Chapters: 41

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Hortense by John S. C. AbbottAuthor: Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot), 1805-1877,Language: English, Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco, Release Date: Feb 20, 2008

Editor's review

Hortense is a historical biography by the 19th-century American author John S. C. Abbott, portraying Hortense de Beauharnais, stepdaughter of Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen of Holland. In an accessible, flowing narrative, Abbott places Hortense within the grand backdrop of the French Revolution and the rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire, showing her family role and political predicament in turbulent times. The book's value lies in using a personal life as a thread through key moments of modern French history; its storytelling approach makes it a good introductory read for understanding personal relationships in the Napoleonic era. As a 19th-century biography, however, its stance and historical outlook bear clear marks of its time, offering readers a window into early popular historical writing. The electronic edition is provided by Project Gutenberg, convenient for searching and citation. It is best read alongside more modern works on French revolutionary history, appreciating its readability while noting its tendentious statements.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in the Napoleonic era and the history of the French Revolution
Beginners seeking an entry into modern French history through biography
Students of 19th-century popular historical writing and the biographical genre
Those needing free English public-domain historical material for reading or translation practice

Not a good fit for

Professional researchers seeking rigorous academic argument and the latest scholarship
Casual readers expecting novelistic plotting and fictional narrative
Readers with limited English proficiency who need a Chinese translation for support

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and chapter titles to map the timeline of Hortense's life and French politics before diving into the text.
Mark passages where the author makes moral judgments or reveals period bias as you read, for later reflection.
Read alongside a chronology of the Napoleonic era to significantly ease understanding of the personal relationships.
For language learning, close-read narrative passages to build up common expressions from 19th-century English biography.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a historical biography?

It is a historical biography of Hortense de Beauharnais, stepdaughter of Napoleon and Queen of Holland. The author, Abbott, was a prolific 19th-century American biographer known for accessible narrative; the work is not a fictional novel, though its storytelling style is more narrative than that of strictly academic historical works.

Can I understand it without a background in French history?

You can, but it helps to first grasp the basic outline of the French Revolution, Napoleon's rise, and the fall of the Empire. The book involves dense personal relationships among the Bonaparte family and various European royal houses; without any background knowledge, readers may find the connections confusing. A chronology or a concise history of France is a useful companion.

What are the features of this edition?

This is the English electronic edition released by Project Gutenberg. It is a public-domain book available free of charge, with text that is easy to search, copy, and cite, suitable for digital reading and note-taking. It contains no modern scholarly introduction, annotations, or corrections, so readers need to supplement background material themselves.

What should I watch for in the book's historical outlook?

As a mid-19th-century biography, the author's praise and blame of his subject's character reflect the moral views and personal stance of his era, and his assessment of historical events differs from contemporary scholarship. Read it as a period text: draw on it for biographical线索 while remaining alert to the tendentious statements in the narrative.

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About the author

Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot), 1805-1877 Author

John S. C. Abbott (1805–1877) was a nineteenth-century American writer of history known for popular biographies and narrative histories. Our catalog holds thirty of his works, covering subjects such as King Philip, Madame Roland, John Paul Jones, Daniel Boone: The Pioneer of Kentucky, Peter Stuyvesant, George Washington, the French Revolution, and the buccaneers of the Caribbean. He typically presented lives and their historical settings in a lively, readable style, turning history into engaging story, and he had some influence in bringing history to a general readership. His works are often grouped under inspirational and personal-growth reading, suited to readers seeking lessons from the lives of notable figures. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life and scholarly assessment require further verification.