A rare note written by a doctor who treated Napoleon Bonaparte has revealed how the French military leader and emperor suffered with sickness and pain in the years before his death.
The letter, dated June 4, 1818, was written by Irish surgeon Barry Edward O'Meara, who treated Napoleon when he was in exile on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena.
Remarking on Napoleon's "ill health," the letter describes how he was "experiencing severe corporeal sufferings," including a headache, pain in his right hand side, a "considerable" fever, a racing pulse and "general anxiety and oppression."
