BONAPARTE'S RETREAT recounts Joseph Bonaparte's relationship with his famous younger brother, his escape to the United States after his brother's downfall at Waterloo, and his impact on America's fascination with French history and personalities. In 1815, the Frenchman settled in New Jersey, where he lived on a lavish estate, designed elaborate gardens, entertained leading figures of the day and surrounded himself with the largest and most important collection of European fine and decorative art in the U.S. The documentary is based, in part, on Patricia Stroud's biography The Man Who Had Been King: The American Exile of Napoleon's Brother Joseph and the fascinating story unfolds through interviews with leading scholars and historians.
