Few women in French history have influenced literature, politics, and social discourse as Germaine de Stael, who counted Byron, Goethe, and William Pitt among her friends - and Napoleon among her enemies. In her new book, Sergine Dixon, using her subject's letters, journals, novels and political writings, brings this brilliant, passionate woman and her era to life. As a novelist and friend of intellectuals, Germaine de Stael established one of the first salons. As a fierce republican she opposed Napoleon and spent years in exile in Switzerland and England. Although only 51 when she died, she survived some of the most turbulent years in French history and the emergence of the artistic Romanic era.