This fascinating yet little-known story recounts the rise of a controversial political leader from French soldier to king of Scandinavia. The title character is fated to rest in the shadow cast by his 17-year association with Napoleon Bonaparte, whose extreme narcissism threatens both legacies. An American ghostwriter, inspired by Alexandre Dumas and others, shares a unique and well-researched unauthorized autobiography by assuming the voice of Marshal Bernadotte/King Karl Johan.

Set during and after the Age of Enlightenment, several themes remain fresh to modern readers:

-Ambition for fame and glory in the Revolutionary wars; a hunger for family; a victim of fake news.

-Tensions between democracy and authoritarianism: who is the original Republican in Name Only?

-a war-weary Sweden's quest for both neutrality and empire; and

-an ancient but weak Norway reclaims its culture while reemerging as a democratic constitutional monarchy.