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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.