The man who had been King

Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples and Spain, claimed that he had never wanted the roles thrust upon him by his younger brother Napoleon. When Napoleon's downfall forced Joseph into exile, he was able to retire to the country at last, but in a surprising place--he spent his last seventeen years in the United States. Joseph arrived in America with a fortune in hand and built a magnificent New Jersey estate he called Point Breeze, filled with paintings and sculpture by such luminaries as David, Canova, Rubens, and Titian. Joseph became friend and host to many of the nation's wealthiest and most cultivated citizens, and his art collection played a crucial role in transmitting European taste to America. He never ceased longing for his homeland, however. Although he would repeatedly plead with his wife to join him, he fathered children by two other women in America. Yet he never stopped plotting to ensure the dynastic survival of the Bonapartes.--From publisher description.