Napoleon The end of glory

Napoléon is one of the most studied figures in world history, yet, surprisingly, there remains unexplored source material on the emperor. Price draws on it to address a historical debate over whether peace was possible between the French Empire and its enemies in 1813-14. Price sets the tone with scenes of the self-crowned French emperor returning to Paris to quiet political unease about the 1812 Russian debacle and to raise a new army. Recounting the ensuing rounds of military campaigns and peace negotiations, Price notes Napoléon's fear of being overthrown. As for peace terms, historians disagree whether those offered by Russia, Prussia, and Austria were sincere, which, if they were not, would justify Napoléon's fighting on. From papers of two diplomats involved in these questions, Armand de Caulaincourt and Klemens von Metternich, Price makes no definitive conclusion about the allies' intentions for the territorial disposition of Napoléon's empire but does hold that they were willing to preserve the Napoleonic regime and that Napoléon's intransigence led to his downfall. Enlivened by pithy character sketches, Price's work trenchantly interprets an important historical issue.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2014 Booklist

An exploration of the years between Napoleons invasion of Russia and his exile to Elbe.As Price (Modern European History/Bradford Univ.;The Perilous Crown: France Between Revolutions, 1814-1848, 2007, etc.) demonstrates, Waterloo was no more than ananticlimax to Napoleons career; it really ended when he left for Elbe. Ultimately, he was undone by confusing troop movements, too many generals leading lots of different armies and a complex assortment of politicians, czars, kings and other leaders. Just about everyone in Europe was involved in trying to defeat Napoleon after his Russian debacle. The author clearly examines their varied objectives, from the restoration of the Bourbons to installation of a puppet government to regency led by Marie Louise, Napoleons wife and the daughter of the Austrian leader, Francis II. Some readers will have difficulty deciphering the maps, following the numerous different armies in battles and recognizing the constantly changing playersthe biggest of which was Klemens von Metternich, who offered mediation after the Russian retreat.Price questions his motives, wondering whether he truly wanted peace or was laying a trap for Napoleon, who feared succumbing to a dishonorable peace, which he felt would cause the French to rise in revolt. His bte noire was being attacked by the mobs of Paris, and he famously said of public opinion, it is an invisible, mysterious power that nothing can resist; nothing could be more changeablebut it never lies. Napoleons frequent reports from Paris were expressly designed to keep tabs on opinion, but he often failed to listen. Taxation, conscription, censorship and the collapse of trade turned the people against him.A useful addition to Napoleonic history, but readers well versed in that history will follow the battles and diplomatic machinations better than those with a narrower scope of historical and geographical knowledge. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.