Uncle Bernac
A Memory of The EmpireBy Arthur Conan Doyle
Length6h 11m
About this audiobook
Uncle Bernac is a historical novel of adventure and intrigue, in which Arthur Conan Doyle spins a tale around the court of Napoleon Bonaparte. The story, subtitled A Memory of the Empire, is set in 1805 and follows young Louis de Laval, a French émigré who has grown up in England due to the Revolution. Louis receives a summons to return to France to meet his uncle, Citizen Bernac, who serves as a high-ranking official under Napoleon. Hoping to reclaim his family's estate, Louis braves a clandestine crossing to Normandy, only to discover he's stepped into a viper's nest of plots. At Napoleon's camp at Boulogne (where the Army of England assembles to invade Britain), Uncle Bernac reveals ulterior motives: he expects Louis to act as a spy on behalf of the British, exploiting the nephew's half-English background – effectively making Louis a double agent against his will. Amid this peril, Louis must navigate court politics and survive the machinations of both Bonapartists and royalist conspirators. The novel features richly drawn scenes: Napoleon himself appears as a mercurial genius (Doyle portrays him conversing with Louis and testing his loyalty in a tense interview). Duels in moonlit sand dunes, secret midnight councils, and a thrilling climax during an attempted assassination of the Emperor all keep the pace brisk. Throughout, Louis grapples with divided loyalties – love of France vs. gratitude to England – embodied by a romantic subplot with a spirited French lady-in-waiting who suspects Bernac's treachery. In the denouement, Uncle Bernac's treason is dramatically exposed, perhaps by evidence Louis bravely secures, and Napoleon rewards Louis for his fidelity. Uncle Bernac deftly blends fact and fiction: Doyle's meticulous research on Napoleon's coastal camp gives an authentic backdrop, while the invented intrigue provides suspense and personal stakes. Though not as famous as Doyle's Sherlock or Brigadier Gerard tales, this novel offers an engaging mix of swashbuckling action, espionage, and historical drama. It ultimately stands as Doyle's tribute to the Napoleonic era – a story of honor and adventure under the shadow of one of history's greatest figures.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.6 (376)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreHistorical Fiction, Mystery and Thriller
Length6 hrs 11 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateAug 1, 2025
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Uncle Bernac
10IX. — THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE
2I. — THE COAST OF FRANCE
11X. — THE ANTE-ROOM
3II. — THE SALT-MARSH
12XI. — THE SECRETARY
4III. — THE RUINED COTTAGE
13XII. — THE MAN OF ACTION
5IV. — MEN OF THE NIGHT
14XIII. — THE MAN OF DREAMS
Mostrar todos os capítulosVer menos
6V. — THE LAW
15XIV. — JOSEPHINE
7VI. — THE SECRET PASSAGE
16XV. — THE RECEPTION OF THE EMPRESS
8VII. — THE OWNER OF GROSBOIS
17XVI. — THE LIBRARY OF GROSBOIS
9VIII. — COUSIN SIBYLLE
18XVII. — THE END
The Greatest Mystery Classics of All TimeArthur Conan Doyle, Josephine Tey, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Edgar Allan Poe, Émile Gaboriau, H. P. Lovecraft, G. K. Chesterton, Wilkie Collins, Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë, Alexandre Dumas, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, Robert Louis Stevenson, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Henry James, Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol, Walter Scott, D. H. Lawrence, Oscar Wilde, H. G. Wells, Edgar Wallace, R. Austin Freeman, Anna Katharine Green, Mary Roberts Rinehart, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Margery Allingham, Freeman Wills Crofts, Cyril Hare, Shirley Jackson, Ernest Bramah, Sapper, Arthur Morrison, Marie Belloc Lowndes, Dorothy L. Sayers, John Buchan, Robert William Chambers, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Richard Marsh, Annie Haynes, Maurice Leblanc, Gaston Leroux, John P. Marquand, Patricia Wentworth, Ethel Lina White, Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, Bram Stoker, Sheridan Le Fanu, William Hope Hodgson, Algernon Blackwood, Washington Irving, Guy de Maupassant, E. C. Bentley, A. A. Milne, Erskine Childers, Earl Derr Biggers1023h 28m4.3 (116)$1.99 · $0.00
Neues von Sherlock Holmes - Die Hörbücher - Folge 34: Sherlock Holmes und die automatische KombinationsmaschineArthur Conan Doyle, Klaus-Peter Walter2h 47m$12 · $0.00
Onkel Bernac (Historischer Roman)Arthur Conan Doyle7h 52m3.6 (500)$1 · $0.00
TRUE CRIME: British Murder MysteriesArthur Conan Doyle5h 53m3.7 (22)$1.99 · $0.00
The Complete Short Stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Illustrated Edition)Arthur Conan Doyle166h 25m4.4 (208)$2.99 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes: Complete Novels & Stories in One VolumeArthur Conan Doyle94h 56m4.6 (272.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
The RefugeesArthur Conan Doyle14h 57m3.8 (740)$1.99 · $0.00
The Sherlock Holmes Mysteries: All 4 novels & 56 Short Stories in One EditionArthur Conan Doyle72h 25m4.5 (4.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes: Novels & Short Stories (48 Titles in One Edition)Arthur Conan Doyle64h 17m4.6 (2.5K)$1.99 · $0.00
An Intimate Study of Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan Doyle37m3.6 (28)$1.99 · $0.00
The Christmas Conundrum (20 Thrillers in One Edition)Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Thomas Hardy, Saki, Robert Louis Stevenson, O. Henry, G.K. Chesterton, M.R. James, Catherine Crowe, William Douglas O'Connor, Charles Dickens, John Kendrick Bangs, Louisa M. Alcott, Emmuska Orczy, Grant Allen, Leonard Kip28h 7m$1.99 · $0.00
The Best British Detective Books: 270+ Murder Mysteries, Crime Stories & Suspense ThrillersArthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Wallace, Annie Haynes, R. Austin Freeman, H. C. McNeile, G. K. Chesterton, Arthur Morrison, Ernest Bramah, Victor L. Whitechurch, Thomas W. Hanshew, J. S. Fletcher, Rober Barr672h 35m4.3 (16)$2.99 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes: Die bekanntesten Krimis (Zweisprachige Ausgaben: Deutsch-Englisch)Arthur Conan Doyle110h 40m4.4 (166)$1 · $0.00
The Essential Sherlock Holmes: 4 Novels & 44 Short Stories in One EditionArthur Conan Doyle63h 14m4.5 (3.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes: Das Tal des Grauens (Zweisprachige Ausgabe: Deutsch-Englisch)Arthur Conan Doyle15h 49m4.3 (59)$1 · $0.00
The Big Book of Crime: Complete Sherlock Holmes Books, True Crime Stories & Detective TalesArthur Conan Doyle137h 50m4.5 (26)$1.99 · $0.00
The Ultimate Cozy Mysteries CollectionArthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Robert Barr, E. W. Hornung, John Kendrick Bangs, Melville Davisson Post, Edgar Wallace, Victor L. Whitechurch, Anna Katharine Green, G. K. Chesterton, Ellis Parker Butler, Maurice Leblanc, R. Austin Freeman, A. E. W. Mason, Mary Roberts Rinehart346h 43m4.4 (12)$1.99 · $0.00
The History of the Great War (Complete 6 Volume Edition)Arthur Conan Doyle58h 51m4.4 (126)$1.99 · $0.00
The Greatest Christmas Murder Mysteries & ThrillersArthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, R. Austin Freeman, Fred M. White, Arthur Cheney Train, Edgar Wallace, Wilkie Collins, Robert Barr, O. Henry, Emmuska Orczy, Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, Sabine Baring-Gould, M. R. James, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, Fergus Hume, Leonard Kip, Lucie E. Jackson, Catherine Crowe, William Douglas O'Connor, John Kendrick Bangs, Louisa M. Alcott, Frank R. Stockton, Grant Allen, James Bowker, Jerome K. Jerome, Florence Marryat, Katherine Rickford, J. M. Barrie, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, George MacDonald, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, E. F. Benson, Algernon Blackwood55h 31m4.0 (32)$1.99 · $0.00
Die Rückkehr des Sherlock Holmes (Zweisprachige Ausgabe: Deutsch-Englisch)Arthur Conan Doyle21h 7m4.4 (155)$1 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
Scaramouche (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini15h 24m4.6 (1.8K)$2 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
ShivajiRanjit Desai25h 13m4.6 (3.1K)$24 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
A Christmas Carol (Illustrated Edition)Charles Dickens3h 23m4.5 (21.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery11h 44m4.5 (48.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Viennese DressmakerKathryn Gauci11h 46m4.5 (2.1K)$23 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Under the Light of the Italian MoonJennifer Anton12h 28m4.5 (5.3K)$23 · $0.00
Jubilee, 50th Anniversary EditionMargaret Walker15h 43m4.5 (9.5K)$25 · $0.00
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen14h 44m4.4 (4.7M)$2 · $0.00
Flying Colours (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith9h 26m4.4 (10.1K)$2 · $0.00
With Love from HarlemReShonda Tate13h 48m4.5 (2K)$6 · $0.00
Sweet Home Highland ChristmasMay McGoldrick, Jan Coffey2h 54m4.5 (1.4K)$7 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideL. M. Montgomery12h 25m4.4 (67.5K)$2 · $0.00
Death Comes for the Archbishop (Annotated)Willa Cather9h 13m4.4 (4.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Alice NetworkKate Quinn15h 7m4.4 (887.1K)$33 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
The New Human Revolution, vol. 1Daisaku Ikeda7h 46m4.7 (669)$12 · $0.00
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m4.6 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m4.6 (1.1K)$8 · $0.00
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Complete Edition)Arthur Conan Doyle12h 41m4.6 (286.7K)$1.99 · $0.00
Farewell My Lovely (Annotated)Raymond Chandler10h 37m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
Olympic Mountain PursuitJodie Bailey5h 55m4.6 (638)$12 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
Deadly Badlands PursuitSharee Stover5h 53m4.6 (361)$12 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
AngelAnita Waller10h 30m4.6 (672)$30 · $0.00
The BorderDon Winslow29h 8m4.5 (35.7K)$53 · $0.00
FlashpointCatherine Coulter11h 38m4.5 (11.6K)$29 · $0.00
Tracking Stolen SecretsLaura Scott5h 37m4.5 (2.2K)$12 · $0.00
The Gothic Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Illustrated Edition)Edgar Allan Poe21h 5m4.5 (2.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Fang Si-Chi's First Love ParadiseYi-Han Lin8h 25m4.5 (4K)$26 · $0.00
The Rose CodeKate Quinn16h 2m4.4 (493.7K)$33 · $0.00
No Woman Left BehindJulie Moffett8h 49m4.5 (3K)$25 · $0.00
You may also like
The Gleam in the North (Historical Novel)D. K. Broster12h 54m4.2 (447)$1.99 · $0.00
Heart of GoldMay McGoldrick, Jan Coffey13h 5m4.4 (413)$6 · $0.00
Rob Roy (Unabridged)Walter Scott19h 41m3.8 (13.7K)$2 · $0.00
Red ClayCharles B. Fancher10h 35m4.4 (6.6K)$25
The Stolen LadyLaura Morelli13h 8m3.9 (7.7K)$33 · $0.00
Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions: Together with Death's DuelJohn Donne7h 30m4.2 (686)$2.30
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
ForbiddenBeverly Jenkins9h 28m4.3 (6.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Paris ModelAlexandra Joel10h 30m4.1 (4.2K)$29 · $0.00
Felix Holt, the RadicalGeorge Eliot19h 42m3.7 (7.7K)$2.30
The MisfitEllie Thomas3h 11m4.5 (26)$4.50 · $0.00
The Flag of the AdventurerSydney C. Grier14h 25m$2.30
Nemesis and the SwanLindsay K. Bandy9h 53m3.9 (264)$20
Three Loving LadiesMrs. Dowdall9h 48m$2 · $0.00
The Wheat PrincessJean Webster10h 57m3.6 (153)$2.30
Valperga Volume 1 (of 3)Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley2h 3m3.5 (476)$2.30
StrettonHenry Kingsley16h 45m$2 · $0.00
The Son of Clemenceau (Annotated)Alexandre Dumas fils8h 59m$2 · $0.00
A Woman IntervenesRobert Barr10h 33m3.1 (14)$2 · $0.00
Zenobia; or, the Fall of PalmyraWilliam Ware14h 36m3.3 (18)$2 · $0.00