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.