I am working on a historical TV show about Napoleon and his family. From his parents time during the revolution on Corsica to his death and onwards to the last political leader of the family... Napoleon III.
I have a 200 page script which focuses on napoleons parents through the Corsican revolution up to Napoleon leaving and early days of him in France at school. The 200 pages are more or less 2-3 episodes package together as one storyline. I want more facts and knowledge to flesh out and cut my episodes in to their Own works.
Trying to get more information about his parents before his birth during the revolution on Corsica. Anything about how they met, more things to help flush out that information for my story, and also to put into perspective where Napoleon fits into his siblings line of births/age. What happened to Napoleon’s family while he was gone in France as a young child until he came back on leave from the military?
Also how accurate is the book: The Boy Life of Napoleon By Eugenie Foa?
Any good books that focus on the Napoleon’s parents? I’ve read many books, many documentaries, and just trying to go through all the notes, facts, diaries, and all of it. It makes it into a task that seems like it will take my whole lifetime and never be actually finished. I don’t want to be like Stanley Kubrick. I don’t want to die without this project becoming reality. Thus I come looking for as much help as can possibly be obtained!
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your TV series, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists, based on past experience: some aspiring screenwriters or novelists have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical television series, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.