Ten Years of Exile
by Madame de Staël
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Capturing eloquent observations of the Napoleonic period's most politically outspoken woman, this edition of Dix Années d´Exil is the powerful memoir of Germaine de Staël´s tumultuous years fleeing Napoleon. Translated by an award-winning scholar, Ten Years of Exile is the only unabridged English edition of this strong-minded and passionate woman´s personal and political journal. During the French Revolution, Mme. de Staël´s salon became a brilliant center of political and show more intellectual life. Staël herself helped to introduce Napoleon to French society, yet like other liberals in the Constitutional Club, she soon came to oppose the increasingly powerful general. He in turn banished her from Paris in 1803 for her liberal ideas. In exile, Staël continued to agitate against the new master of France. When Napoleon began his great Russian campaign, she fled across Austria and Poland to avoid his advancing armies. She arrived in Moscow only weeks ahead of Napoleon and then barely escaped to England. After Napoleon´s defeat, Staël returned to Paris and again received ministers, generals, and sovereigns in her revived salon. As the author of beloved novels and widely read works on literature, history, and politics, Staël knew and corresponded with many of the leading intellectuals and politicians of her day, including Talleyrand, Schiller, and Goethe. Her memoir provides penetrating insights into the society of Napoleonic Europe and vivid portraits of the leading figures of the age, including the emperor himself. Based upon the definitive 1996 French text edited by Simone Balayé and Mariella Bonifacio, this edition includes a new introduction by Simone Balayé and Avriel Goldberger. Supplemented with notes, a chronology, and a map of de Staël´s dramatic flight across Europe, Ten Years of Exile will intrigue readers interested in biography, French history, women´s studies, political and intellectual history, literature, and the Age of Napoleon. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
There is an introduction and conclusion from her daughter. The story of Madame de Stael's view of Napoleon during his rise, his persecution of her and her travels. We learn of the time she spent in Russia. The story of an incredible woman
These memoirs begin in 1800, trace the increase in Napoleon's power and his violent suppression of dissent and liberty. She describes her exile from France to Italy, Austria, Poland, Russia, Finland, Sweden and England.
No assessment of Napoleon Bonaparte is complete without considering his persecution of Madame De Stael, the enemy of tyrants, but curiously, liked by Napoleon's family.
Includes notes on the trial of General Moreau [134].
No assessment of Napoleon Bonaparte is complete without considering his persecution of Madame De Stael, the enemy of tyrants, but curiously, liked by Napoleon's family.
Includes notes on the trial of General Moreau [134].
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Author Information
121+ Works 892 Members
Germaine de Stael, the daughter of a Swiss banker, was "the first woman of middle-class origins to impress herself, through her own genius, on all the major public events of her time---events political, literary, in every sense revolutionary" (Ellen Moers). Mme de Stael presided over a Paris salon in which the greatest minds of the day met and show more conversed. Her cosmopolitan liberalism so offended Napoleon that he once forbade her to come within 40 miles of Paris. Mme de Stael's writing helped lay the cultural foundations of French romanticism. Her essay De l'Allegmagne (Of Germany) (1810) introduced German romantic poetry and philosophy to the French. Her novels depicted strong-willed heroines driven by passion and intellectual curiosity but constrained by social conventions. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Ten Years of Exile
- Original title
- Dix années d'exil
- Original publication date
- 1821
- People/Characters
- Germaine de Staël
- Important places
- France; Russia
- Important events
- Napolianic Wars
- First words
- It is not to attract public attention that I have decided to narrate the circumstances of my ten years in exile.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)She was unable to finish even this work, and the manuscript of her 'Ten Years in Exile' remained in her portfolio in the state in which I now publish it.
- Original language
- French
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction, Literature Studies and Criticism
- DDC/MDS
- 940.2 — History & geography History of Europe History of Europe Europe: Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, Napolean
- LCC
- DC146 .S7 .A25 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania France – Andorra – Monaco History of France Modern, 1515- Revolutionary and Napoleonic period, 1789-1815
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 67
- Popularity
- 466,214
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.67)
- Languages
- 5 — English, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 7
