As Goldstone states in her introduction, this was the age of Victoria. And I say that rings true even to this day. We have many well-written biographies on Queen Victoria. So, I think it is refreshing when such a wonderfully written, informative book like The Rebel Empresses is published. Much happened outside of Victoria and the British Empire, so it was very interesting to read other political landscapes of the time. Sissi has long been a figure who fascinated me, and as such, I knew some information going into this. But I knew nothing of Eugenie. I found both women to be so complex. Goldstone did a fantastic job bringing their stories to life.

I am a huge history buff and when I saw this title about two people that I did not have much prior knowledge about I instantly requested it. Not only is the book written in such an interesting way but I love how the author delves not only into the women's lives but also the world and culture around. I throughly enioyed this book and will recommend it to others happily. I am also going to seek out other books written by this author.

Fearless, adventurous, and athletic; defiantly, even fiercely independent, Sisi and Eugenie represented, each in her own way, a new kind of empress, one who rebelled against traditional expectations and restrictions. Their beauty was undeniable but so too was their influence on a world that was fast becoming recognizably modern. from The Rebel Empresses by Nancy Goldstone

The Rebel Empresses is a dual biography that covers a century of history but is so entertaining as to be addictive and hard to put down.

Elizabeth, known as Sisi, married Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. Eugenie married Louis Napoleon III, Emperor of France. Both women were beautiful and fashionable, intelligent, independent thinkers, and liberals married to autocratic dictators. They endured wandering husbands and loss of children. Eugenie was psychological the stronger and had a long life, while Sisi was emotionally frailer, and became obsessed with diet and beauty, ruining her health, and died by assassination. Eugenie worked to improve the lives of women. Sisi was beloved by her husband’s subjects, especially the Hungarians whom she loved.

19th c Europe was a hotbed of dissent with democratic uprisings across the continent demanding constitutions and rights. “Autocrats whose reigns are threatened…generally face two alternatives: either bring out the soldiers and impose martial law, or acquiesce to some form of power sharing,” Goldstone writes. Austria was having trouble holding onto its power in Italy and Hungry. Meanwhile, Prussia was pushing for war, with Napoleon III complicit.

Franz Joseph’s mother Sophie had put her son in power and she held overwhelming control over the teenaged Elizabeth’s life, taking her children to raise. Elizabeth finally asserted her rights and took back the children. She traveled with her youngest daughter, leaving behind her son who was bereft and psychologically damaged.

Louis Napoleon discovered that “it turned out to be much simpler taking over a country of which he was already the president,” Goldstone notes, adding that “…the country that had once so famously stormed the Bastille and beheaded its long-standing monarch in the defense of liberty had voted roaring approval for Louis Napoleon’s remaining in office as a virtual dictator, with an undeniable mandate to make France great again.” He did turn Paris into the beloved city it is today.

These historical lives are more interesting than fiction. There is Franz Joseph’s brother Maximilian, convinced by Louis Napoleon to take over Mexico as Emperor, coming to a sad end. And the Austrian heir who kills himself and his lover. And Elizabeth’s younger sister who married the King of the Two Sicilies whose marriage was not consummated for years–Maria secretly gave birth to an illegitimate child who was given up before she bore the King an heir.

I loved every page.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

Thank you, Net Galley and Little Brown Company for letting me read this E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Nancy Goldstone tells the stories of Eugenie of France and Elizabeth of Austria. From their birth to their death, she gives a picture of what the imperial courts were like in both France and the Habsburg Empire. Renowned for their physical beauty, these women were fashion icons of their time. One thing these two women had in common was that they rebelled against the imperial court's traditional norms.

Goldstone presents a well-researched book on the lives of these two empresses. She switches back and forth between Eugenie and Elizabeth to parallel their lives in different parts of their narrative. These women were around during major technological advances, wars, revolutions, suicides, and assassinations. This is a must-read and excellent addition for a Modern European historian.

Thank you to Net Gally and the Publisher for this ARC copy of The Rebel Empresses by Nancy Goldstone. I was very excited to dive in as I personally love Empress Sisi. As a costumer and clothing historian her fashion keeps drawing me back and I even learned things I didn't know about her in this book. Empress Eugenie that I got to learn about in this book. I loved how every few chapters we would switch between the two women but I wish there was an included time line at the front of the book as I would have liked to keep a better track of what the other lady was doing while we were in the others chapters. We got a bit of those at the start of the chapter but as sometimes the chapter wouldn't even mention Sisi o Eugenie for a while I lost track of say the year or what was goin on. For what this book has to cover it does well with page count, I wish there was more chapters and that way maybe the chapters themselves could have bene shorter so it would be easier to keep track of things but that might have been a me issues. If you ever had any interest in either of these two women I highly recommend this book. This was my first Nancy Goldstone book and it made me interested in picking up her others.

Revolutions, regime changes, and risqué paramours, oh my! Nancy Goldstone is the queen of bringing to life the stoic, regal, static paintings of reines, showing just how dynamic, vibrant, curious, intelligent and strong women of history were, who have for too long been described as just wives to a crowned head.

It was smart for Goldstone to double bill this book, as Eugenie and Elisabeth had more in common than just being alive at the same time. I learned that they both came from humble beginnings (relative to their higher born contemporaries), neither were their families' first born child, yet they miraculously ascended the throne. After that, they both sought to carve out their own space in the bureaucracy filled, stifling court politics, male-dominated sphere of monarchic rule, where being an empress didn't guarantee personal happiness or freedom. They fought for every inch gained. Their differences are all the more stark, as a consequence of different upbringings, culture, but also sheer dumb marital luck - or misfortune.

In pairing the two empresses together, Goldstone is also comparing the Old World vs. the New World. The 19th century saw a major push towards modernity for a myriad of reasons, and in this book, for the domino effect of political upheaval and calls for democracy or instating constitutional monarchy. France (Eugenie's home country) embraced change, while Austria (Elisabeth's home country) resisted it. The push and pull between liberal and traditional way of living is applied not just between kings and their subjects, but between husbands and wives. Reading the triumphs and struggles of the two countries, their queens and their husbands, I really feel for both women. They did the best they could, and managed to live on their own terms.

As an American, I'm intimidated by European history because it covers a lot of time and ground, and somehow all monarchs share the same 10 names. But Goldstone deftly weaves between two separate timelines and courts, and people, and the countless wars and revolutions across many nations, so I wasn't confused at all. It wasn't all facts and figures, which would've been overwhelming. Instead, it was like reading a gossip mag (much better written, of course) because Goldstone paints so clearly the different personalities, their motivations, the juicy, scandalous tidbits of side characters.

On a personal note, I found Eugenie's sections to be more interesting, since she had the benefit of being older, wiser, more independent in her adult life, so she was more of a mover and shaker in the political realm, whereas Elisabeth's sections were more of the struggles she dealt with in her personal life (Franz Joseph...if I speak, I am in big trouble). Nonetheless, Goldstone did a good job or showcasing them equally.

I was totally enchanted and drawn into the lives of two of the nineteenth century’s great European Empresses, Elisabeth of Austria and the Spanish beauty Eugenie of France. Both women were married to world leaders, Elisabeth to Franz Joseph of Austria and Eugenie to Napoleon III of France. As these women were both known for their beauty and their connections to their people, the book follows their lives from the days before they married through various trials and tribulations, from girlhood to motherhood and stateswomen during tumultuous political times.

Even though they both lived in palaces and seemed to have charmed lives, I would say they both suffered and did not have an easy time.

What is wonderful about the book is that the writing makes the events of their lives easy to understand, gives the reader an in-depth understanding of those events, but also gives more commentary about their inner struggles and how they delt with survival. Both were intelligent but were often used to soften political problems. There is so much to like about this book, and I am happy to add that the few images that are in the book help to bring the era alive.

I’d happily read more from Nancy Goldstone, as I enjoyed reading this book very much.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for the eARC of The Rebel Empresses: Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France, Power and Glamour in the Struggle for Europe in exchange for an honest review.

When I first heard of a dual biography for Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France, admittedly, I was puzzled. Besides being both empresses of European powers during the latter half of the 19th century, I did not think there are much else in common or interactions between the two women to warrant a dual biography. However, I was still intrigued. I've read a couple of biographies on Elisabeth of Austria but knew significantly much less about Eugénie of France and figured this would be a great chance to learn more about her.

And I'm so glad I did. The Rebel Empresses is a wonderful and enjoyable read. I love getting to know more about the life story of the titular women as well as how the tumultuous events of Europe impacted their lives. However, it is Nancy Goldstone's skills to make both Elisabeth and Eugénie come to lives and become someone readers could relate to.

Though at times, the details (it is quite a doorstopper) can drag down the flow, I find myself cannot fault the book too much given how much we are covering.

This is definitely a fun, informative read for anyone who wants to learn more about 19th century European history that is not just about the British Royal Family.

The Rebel Empresses is not just a dual biography of two captivating women, but it’s also a who’s who of the 19th century, and I couldn’t get enough! Otto von Bismarck, Queen Victoria, Ludwig II, Napoleon III, Franz Joseph, Leopold II, Tsar Alexander, Wilhelm I and more. Nancy Goldstone took on the task of weaving the major events of the time into the life stories of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Empress Eugéne of France, and she did it masterfully.

Follow Eugéne de Montijo from her childhood in Spain during its revolution, into her adolescence with a disastrous love life, to France where she meets Napoleon III and marries into the family legacy that was Napoleon Bonaparte. Meanwhile, we meet a vibrant and carefree Elisabeth from Bavaria, better known as Sisi. She accompanies her older sister Helene to meet Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, of the Hapsburg dynasty, with the intention of a betrothal. Instead, it was the sixteen year old Sisi that caught his eye and infatuation, leading to a marriage.

From their time in power you will gain an overview of the Crimean War, the placing of a European monarch in Mexico and the Franco-Prussian War, as well as the Austrians becoming dual monarchs of Hungary. You also learn of the interactions that will come between these two as their lives intersect overtime. Of course, don’t let this barrage of events leave you feeling daunted. Ms. Gladstone makes this timeline extremely readable and easy to follow.

As this year comes to an end, I can easily say that this book was one of my favorites.

A big thank you to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for this review. I am grateful.

This is the first time I've read a book by Nancy Goldstone, and I was suitably impressed. Besides making Elisabeth and Eugenie convincingly human, she takes in the entire sweep of European history in the 19th century, a time when all the royal families were related but this did not prevent them from constantly making war on one another.

She does fall prey, a little, to the modern historian's tendency to be cute and clever, but it's not terribly distracting and is usually confined to the chapter endnotes. I enjoyed, in a way, her remark that Napoleon III wanted to "make France great again." And it's 100% clear from reading this book that ignorant populations insisting on their vision of the world, instead of trying to understand reality, are not solely a feature of the 20th or 21st centuries.

What justifies writing about these two women together, when their lives only crossed at their ends, is that within the environments of their imperial courts they were constantly struggling against limitations placed by others, notably Elisabeth's formidable and autocratic mother in law, and against the conservative politics that tried to hold off democratic reforms that began to seem inevitable. It's kind of refreshing, at this moment in time, to read a fat history book in which the United States hardly figures at all. The closest we get is an elucidation of the sad 'emperor of Mexico' misadventure cooked up by France and Austria.

Goldstone makes all this look easy. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand Europe's history a little better.

I requested and received an eARC of The Rebel Empresses: Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France, Power and Glamour in the Struggle for Europe by Nancy Goldstone via NetGalley. Having read some of Goldstone’s previous work, I was instantly drawn to this book when I saw that it was available for request. I’m pretty familiar Sisi of Austria, but admittedly only the larger and more dramatic incidents on her life. Her life has inspired countless dramatizations and captured the imagination of many history lovers. I had no previous knowledge of Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, but was definitely excited to learn more about. Sisi and Eugénie were two of the most influential women in nineteenth century Europe and witnessed modernization, war, revolutions assassinations, while dealing with their own more intimate scandals and tragedies. In The Rebel Empresses, Goldstone explores their lives among the turbulence of a changing and conflicted world.

Goldstone is one of my favorite nonfiction writers! I absolutely fell in love with her writing style in The Daughters of the Winter Queen and she exceeds herself in The Rebel Empresses. Goldstone is able to imbue her subjects with such a vivacity that it is impossible to be disinterested in the rich history that she explores with Sisi and Eugénie. Names become people and personalities, while events become motivation and reasoning. Goldstone has a passion for history and a gift for storytelling that comes across in the text which is what makes reading and learning from her work such a rewarding experience. A highlight, for me, was a section about Sisi’s early life when Goldstone explores Lola Montez and her relationship with King Ludwig I. What an incredibly interesting person Montez was!

As the book follows Sisi’s adult and later life, it is difficult not to develop an affinity for the woman. Goldstone really captures Sisi’s irrepressible spirit and the difficulties she faced with her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie. There were parts that almost read like a bonkbuster. Someone placing the pamphlet, about Marie Antoinette used in as a warning and attempt to extort Maria Theresa, on her desk? It’s simply devious! I also enjoyed the way that Goldstone drew parallels between the experiences of Sisi and some modern royal women. There’s some really great, subtle commentary in there that I thought really resonated with recent history.

Similarly enthralling were the chapters about Eugénie’s young adult life. The teenage passions that Goldstone describes create a portrait of quite a fascinating young woman. As mentioned, anything about Eugénie was almost entirely unknown to me before starting this book, this is something Goldstone quickly corrected. Her family’s history was quite interesting, and her father seemed to cute quite a romantic figure. I was absorbed reading about her relationship with Louis Napoleon, particularly the early missteps. I think she emerges as an equally sympathetic figure as Sisi in some ways. The humiliation she must have endured given the obviousness with which Napoleon III conducted his affairs (the Countess of Castiglione and those opera exits! Eugénie left alone in her box! Can you imagine?)

Reading about her adult life was every bit as interest as reading about Sisi’s. There were several moments when I actually got quite tickled reading about certain incidents in her life (like teaching her son how to swim by throwing him headfirst into the sea) or the absurdity of Plon-Plon. My mirth, however, disappeared once I reached the concluding chapters about her life. The Rebel Empresses served as a marvelous introduction to Eugénie for me and I couldn’t help but feel a certain sadness as Goldstone explored her later years. Goldstone’s greatest skill, aside from the way she builds such strong personal narratives about her subjects, is the way she’s able to position history seamlessly throughout the accounts of their lives. When reading historical nonfiction, it is easy to feel bogged down in events, battles, laws etc. but Goldstone explores revolution, war, and more in a way that flows so nicely that it makes learning feel both fun and approachable.

This was a simply brilliant read. I've read most of Nancy Goldstones' books and this one was just as much of a pleasure as her previous works, I absolutely adore women writing about trailblazing individuals of the past, especially these days where there is far too much conservative drive to drive down that individuality. Goldstone does a fantastic job drawing individual portraits of these contemporary women, both unique in their push to make their own way in the 19th century, the time when women's rights really began to come alive,

Sisi and Eugenie in many ways are stuff of legend, of cinema and literary inventions, and yet Goldstone does a tremendous job not only making them both come to life, but more importantly come to life with their real stories told. That's an invaluable historical legacy to partake of.

Sure, some people may be wary of The Rebel Empresses by Nancy Goldstone. It's history. It's over 500 pages. I realize a dual biography of two women not known to the general public may be a big ask. Who knows all that much about Elisabeth of Austria (better known as Sisi) and Eugénie of France? For the non-believers, allow me to quote from Goldstone completely out of context:

"Gondrecourt, who despised weakness, even in six-year-olds, took to the task with the brisk dedication of a future psychopath torturing a puppy."

I'm not going to explain any of that previous sentence, but can we all agree it is intriguing if not totally (chef's kiss)? Goldstone has enough here for both the history nerd (which is me) and the person who loves a little bit of smack talk mixed into their non-fiction (also me!).

For the history purists worried this is some pop culture abomination, have no fear. Goldstone's research is impeccable while being interesting. The length of the book is barely felt as the story seamlessly bounces between the two women and doesn't ever get bogged down in extensive or extraneous detail. Admittedly, the first few chapters felt like drinking from a fire-hose, but once you get into the groove of the narrative it all feels natural.

The choice of a dual biography is also inspired. These two women occupied the same time and space in Europe. They were in many ways polar opposites and then somehow at times mirrors of each other. Goldstone plays with this dichotomy and allows the reader to really know these women. She is generally positive about their legacies, but is not shy about calling them out when they deserve it. To put a fine point on it, I loved this book and think everyone should read it.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company.)

this was a beautifully done biography to this book. I learned a lot about these Empresses and was engaged with what was going on. It was researched well and was glad I got to read this. Nancy Goldstone has a strong writing style and I could read the research being done.

An absolutely amazing look at two Empresses who helped define an age even as Victoria of England dominated it. This makes certain the Victorian Age should be the Age of Empresses.

I requested this because recently, I’ve been consuming a lot of culture about Empress Sisi - the movie Corsage with the divine Vicky Krieps, the Netflix show The Empress, the book based around that show, and the incredible historical fiction novel Empty Theatre by Jac Jemc. I was interested to learn about her from a purely historical context. This book is long and incredibly detailed and, from the title, shares the focus between Sisi and Eugénie of France. I love that historical non-fiction nowadays is often written by women and focused on women. I learned a lot from this, although at times, the detail was so immense, it felt overwhelming, and occasionally I found the subject matter a bit boring. But that’s a personal feeling. I do think this book would be best for people with a huge interest in history, specifically royal history and eighteenth-century European history. The author clearly knows her subjects well and did a tremendous amount of research to write their stories.