Napoleon's Privates

A fun and informative look at the naughty bits of history, from kinky 18th-century British sex clubs to J. Edgar Hoover's favorite party outfit, and more from "a terrifically funny writer" (Boston Globe).

"It's so great to have a truly funny (and poetic) writer putting the lurid colors back on the pale marble, where they belong. . . . Full of the 'get-a-load-of-this' factor—those juicy, vivid stories you can't wait to tell your friends. To my mind, that quality is the distinguishing trait of great nonfiction." —Teller of Penn & Teller, entertainer in Las Vegas

When Tony Perrottet heard that Napoleon's "baguette" had been stolen by his disgruntled doctor a few days after the Emperor's death, he rushed out to New Jersey. Why? Because that's where an eccentric American collector who had purchased Napoleon's member at a Parisian auction now kept the actual relic in an old suitcase under his bed.

The story of Napoleon's privates triggered Perrottet's quest to research other such exotic sagas from history, to discover the actual evidence behind the most famous age-old mysteries: Did Churchill really send condoms of a surprising size to Stalin? Were champagne glasses really molded upon Marie Antoinette's breasts? What was JFK's real secret service? What were Casanova's best pickup lines? Napoleon's Privates is filled with offbeat, riotously entertaining anecdotes that are guaranteed to amaze, shock, and enliven any dinner party.

"A sinfully entertaining survey of perversions." —Salon

"Popular history at its best." —Norman Cantor, Professor Emeritus of History, New York University

"It's refreshing to find such an entertaining writer whose history is also meticulously researched. Perrottet's take on the past is erudite, original and witty—even, frequently, hilarious." —Paul Cartledge, Professor of Classics, Cambridge University