Marie-Louise and the Invasion of 1814: the Empress and the Fall of the First Empire

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 seemed their lives were about to be overturned, wrenched from the most elevated positions in Europe and imminently torn down and apart. This book charts the inexorable progress of these momentous events within a world far removed from the sharp end of the struggle. The text also chronicles the military campaign as it drew closer towards the battle for Paris itself and to the imperial family within its defences. The end inevitably came and the Empress now found herself in the forefront of events and forced to flee with her child into a hostile night and country filled with enemies. These events and those that followed make vital reading and complete the picture of Napoleon's downfall from the most intimate of perspectives.