The Apocalypse of Napoleon Bonaparte His Last Years from Waterloo to St Helena: A Medical Biography

by Richardson, Robert L.

• ISBN13: 9781846890635
• ISBN10: 1846890632
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-05
• Publisher: Quiller Publishing Ltd.

Summary

The Apocalypse of Napoleon Bonaparte offers a unique look into the final years of Napoleons life. Following his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled a second time, in this instance to the isolated South Atlantic island of St. Helena. There, Napoleons health rapidly deteriorated, resulting in a mysterious death. What was the cause? This book looks to answer that question by examining first hand accounts of the four doctors who treated Napoleon during his six years in exile on St. Helena.

Author Biography

Dr Robert Richardson's medical biography is firmly based on the journals kept by all the doctors who looked after Napoleon; the memoirs and reminiscences of non-medical writers-medically notoriously unreliable or prejudiced-are avoided. The diagnoses are allowed to emerge from these day-to-day records. Besides the conclusions about the cause of death, this is also the first time that the role of Admiral Plampin's mistress has been exposed. The four horsemen of Napoleon's apocalypse are readily identifiable. The first was his Minister of Police, the treacherous Joseph Fourch. The Second was the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, the vengeful Lord Bathurst. The third was the governor of St Helena, the paranoid Sir Hudson Lowe. The fourth was the admiral in command of the St Helena Naval Station, the spineless Sir Robert Plampin.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 7
Napoleon's Waterloo	p. 9
Paris to Tor Bay	p. 20
Tor Bay to James Town	p. 30
The Briars to Longwood	p. 37
A new governor	p. 46
Life at Longwood	p. 57
A case of scurvy	p. 68
Conditions at Longwood	p. 79
The scandal of 'Lady' Plampin	p. 86
The Governor's Paranoia	p. 97
O'Meara meets his desnity	p. 112
Surgical interregnum	p. 124
The Corsican doctor	p. 139
Therapeutic gardening	p. 151
The last excursion	p. 167
A diagnostically critical time	p. 174
"England calls for my corpse; I Will not keep her waiting"	p. 189
The aftermath	p. 196
The Post-mortem and its reports	p. 201
Antommarchi v Rutledge	p. 214
False belief and other red herrings	p. 222
Cause of death 230
Notes	p. 233
Bibliography	p. 248
Timeline for medical events	p. 50
Details of clinical picture (November, 1820-April 26, 1821)	p. 253
Napoleon's wounds	p. 262
Autopsie du corps de Napoleon ler	p. 264
Walter Henry's account	p. 268
St Helena (c.1818): Geography	p. 271
Longwood (c.1818): Climate	p. 272
List of plates	p. 274
Index of personal names	p. 276
Subject index	p. 289
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

The Apocalypse of Napoleon Bonaparte offers a unique look into the final years of Napoleon's life. Following his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled a second time, in this instance to the isolated South Atlantic island of St. Helena. There, Napoleon's health rapidly deteriorated, resulting in a mysterious death. What was the cause? This book looks to answer that question by examining first hand accounts of the four doctors who treated Napoleon during his six years in exile on St. Helena.

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Excerpted from The Apocalypse of Napoleon Bonapa by R. Richardson
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.