A stranger in a plumed hat arrives in a Quebec village with a pocketful of gold, claims to be the son of Napoleon, and begins raising an army. Parker was Canadian-born, settled in England, sat in Parliament for eighteen years and was knighted; the village here is drawn from the ones he knew, and the question of whether Valmond believes himself is left exactly where it should be. Fifty-eight plates, from Monet to Munch, trace the revolutionary upheaval behind the tale, from Robespierre awaiting news to Galileo and the new astronomy.
