In the wake of Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign of 1812, the French emperor's imperious grip on Europe began to weaken, raising the question of how the continent was to be reconstructed after his defeat. While the Treaty of Paris that followed Napoleon's exile in 1814 put an end to a quarter century of revolution and war in Europe, it left the future of the continent hanging in the balance.
Eager to negotiate a workable and lasting peace, the major powers—Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia—along with a host of lesser nations, began a series of committee sessions in Vienna: an eight-month-long carnival that combined political negotiations with balls, dinners, artistic performances, hunts, tournaments, picnics, and other sundry forms of entertainment for the thousands of aristocrats who had gathered in the Austrian capital. Although the Congress of Vienna resulted in an unprecedented level of stability in Europe, the price of peace would be high. Many of the crucial questions were decided on the battlefield or in squalid roadside cottages amid the vagaries of war. And the proceedings in Vienna itself were not as decorous as is usually represented.
Internationally bestselling author Adam Zamoyski draws on a wide range of original sources, which include not only official documents, private letters, diaries, and firsthand accounts, but also the reports of police spies and informers, to reveal the steamy atmosphere of greed and lust in which the new Europe was forged. Meticulously researched, masterfully told, and featuring a cast of some of the most influential and powerful figures in history, including Tsar Alexander, Metternich, Talleyrand, and the Duke of Wellington, Rites of Peace tells the story of these extraordinary events and their profound historical consequences.
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Adam Zamoyski was born in New York and educated at Oxford. He is the author of Moscow 1812. He lives in London.
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Book Description Condition: Very Good. 1607869865. 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM. Seller Inventory # U9780007253791
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. 634 pages. Seller Inventory # 2830h
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 634 pages. Civer lightly wornFollowing on from his epic and b estselling '1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow' Adam Zamoyski has written the dramatic story of the Congress of Vienna 1813-15 ], which was to bring about the political reshaping of Europe and whose legacy affected international relations for a century. The collapse of the French Empire and Napoleon's swift disappearance into exile left a void which 'the big four' -- Russia, Prussia, Britain and Austria -- were desperate to fill. Taking advantage o f the riches left behind were important personalities that includ ed Tsar Alexander, King Frederick William III of Prussia, Count M atternich, the Machiavellian Prince de Talleyrand likened by Napo leon to 'shit in a silk stocking'] and the British Lord Castlerea gh. Following in close succession were the sabre-rattling general s, heartened by their recent victories and obsessed with gaining as many fortresses and strong river boundaries for their countrie s as possible. The final act was to dash many of the liberal hope s and dreams for a more equitable order throughout Europe, with f atal consequences for the future. the five Continental Powers and at the expense of the weaker nations. The Congress was the great est party the world has ever seen -- a huge gathering of two empe rors, eleven sovereign princes, ninety plenipotentiaries plus cou rt-loads of servants, cooks, secretaries, etc. Zamoyski has writt en a detailed study of these intrigues and negotiations producing a marvelously heady brew that results in a fascinating and gripp ing read. Seller Inventory # 2196a
Book Description Paperback. The dramatic and little-known story of how, in the summer of 1920, Lenin came within a hair's breadth of shattering the painstakingly constructed Versailles peace settlement and spreading Bolshevism to western Europe. In 1920 the new Soviet state was a mess, following a brutal civil war, and the best way of ensuring its survival appeared to be to export the revolution to Germany, itself economically ruined by defeat in World War I and racked by internal political dissension. Between Russia and Germany lay Poland, a nation that had only just recovered its independence after more than a century of foreign oppression. But it was economically and militarily weak and its misguided offensive to liberate the Ukraine in the spring of 1920 laid it open to attack. Egged on by Trotsky, Lenin launched a massive westward advance under the flamboyant Marshal Tukhachevsky. All that Great Britain and France had fought for over four years now seemed at risk. By the middle of August the Russians were only a few kilometres from Warsaw, and Berlin was less than a week's march away. Then occurred the 'Miracle of the Vistula': the Polish army led by Jozef Pilsudski regrouped and achieved one of the most decisive victories in military history. As a result, the Versailles peace settlement survived, and Lenin was forced to settle for communism in one country. The battle for Warsaw bought Europe nearly two decades of peace, and communism remained a mainly Russian phenomenon, subsuming many of the autocratic and Byzantine characteristics of Russia's tsarist tradition. First published 2007. Seller Inventory # 8818420
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. xviii+634pp., Colour illustrated covers with light crease to spine & light shelf wear, intro. by author, b/w maps, col. & b/w plts. & text ills., notes, bibliog., index. In the wake of his disastrous Russian campaign of 1812, Napoleon's imperious grip on Europe began to weaken, raising the question of how the Continent was to be reconstructed after his defeat. Size: Thick Octavo. Book. Seller Inventory # 001403
Book Description Condition: VeryGood. Pages are clean! The cover has visible markings and wear. Some writing on the text block edge There are some creases on the spine Fast Shipping - Each order powers our free bookstore in Chicago and sending books to Africa!. Seller Inventory # 5D4WH50003FI_ns