The Dentist and the Empress (ePub)

Personal intrigue and social history are combined in this fascinating account of an American dentist in nineteenth century Paris. Dr. Thomas W. Evans, a Philadelphia dentist of pioneering skill and great charm, moved in the highest circles of France's Second Empire. His expertise gave American dentistry a special distinction, while his discretion made him the confidant of Europe's reigning families. When they wished to communicate discreetly, they simply made an appointment with their dentist!

Dr. Evans was a guest in the court society presided over by the spirited and beautiful Empress Eugénie, and he took part in the sparkling life of the boulevards and bohemia. Dr. Evans's inside knowledge of plans for the revitalization of Paris- largely the Paris we see today- allowed him to become a multi­millionaire through well-chosen investments in real estate. Among the French bohemians, Méry Laurent, an exquisite and witty artist's model, introduced him to painters and writers of genius-Manet and Whistler, the symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé, the Irish writer George Moore, and many others.

When the Second Empire fell and an angry mob stormed the Tuileries palace, it was Evans who saved the Empress from prison, and perhaps the guillotine, in a dangerous and romantic escape to England.

Always a staunch American, Dr. Evans visited President Lincoln, Secretary of State William Seward, and General Grant during the Civil War and helped convince Napoleon III to remain neutral during the conflict. Later Evans labored to bring the medical lessons of that war to the attention of European governments.

This account of the intertwined lives of a remarkable Pennsylvanian and the most elegant woman in Europe is the stuff of human drama and "you-were­there" history.