Home the Country: Lucien Bonaparte an English Perspective

The story of Lucien Bonaparte, the younger brother of Napoleon, is one of power, ambition, great moral courage and love. Without Lucien his brother Napoleon would just have been a mere footnote in history, yet he was airbrushed from history by Napoleon's descendants, because they fell out over Lucien's choice of wife. Lucien Bonaparte was not a man of violence. He was charismatic and possessed a moral courage that inspired thousands. He knew poverty and great wealth; he supported artists and musicians, and influenced scientists. He was one of the few who stood up to his brother and survived. In England he was feted and treated as a celebrity, even though the government of the day regarded him as a prisoner of war. The story was unravelled by by the historian and house portraitist Mark Hilsden, featuring illustrations from the exhibition of the same name, in Worcestershire.