This book is the dairy of a French girl who lived in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was a real person. So were others who come into her story. Their names appear in the history books of Europe; but there they are dead people ----- and in Desiree's diary they are alive.

Here we can see, through a woman's eyes, how history was made. She was there. She knew the men and women who made it. She almost married Napoleon himself.

No one really understood him. Not even Desiree. She hated his wars; but she never hated the man. He has no heart, she said. And she was sorry for him, because love and peace had no place in his life. In her own life she found true love, with Jean Bernadotte. But in those days a soldier's wife had little peace, especially if her husband dared to quarrel with Napoleon.

Some people write their diaries every day. Others only write then when something important happens. Desiree's diary is of the second kind. It only covers the most important times in her life.

The first half of her story is told in this book.