The agony of Napoleon's family as Empire ends
This is a riveting book. Those interested in-and to some degree knowledgeable about-the Napoleonic age know of the Emperor's inspired military prowess as he fought, with ever diminishing resources, to avert defeat at the hands of the advancing imperial forces within the France of 1814. History, perhaps justifiably, has concentrated on the great man, his politics and military manoeuvres. Meanwhile, in Paris, his wife, the Empress Marie-Louise of Austria and her infant son, the King of Rome, heir to the Imperial throne, lived in anguish as it...

The agony of Napoleon's family as Empire ends
This is a riveting book. Those interested in-and to some degree knowledgeable about-the Napoleonic age know of the Emperor's inspired military prowess as he fought, with ever diminishing resources, to avert defeat at the hands of the advancing imperial forces within the France of 1814. History, perhaps justifiably, has concentrated on the great man, his politics and military manoeuvres. Meanwhile, in Paris, his wife, the Empress Marie-Louise of Austria and her infant son, the King of Rome, heir to the Imperial throne, lived in anguish as it...

" Une ville a rarement presente un spectacle aussi frappant que celui qu'offrait Versailles en 1871, pendant la lutte de l'armee contre la Commune. Entre le grand siecle et notre epoque, entre la majeste de l'ancienne France et les dechirements de la France nouvelle, entre les horreurs lugubres dont Paris etait le theatre et les radieux souvenirs de la ville du Roi-Soleil, le contraste etait aussi douloureux que saisissant. Ces avenues ou l'on se montrait le chef du gouvernement et le glorieux vaincu de Reichshoffen; cette place d'armes encombree de canons; ces drapeaux rouges, tristes...