The Final Act The Roads to Waterloo Author:Gregor Dallas No diplomatic event in history had so stellar a cast as the Congress of Vienna: Tsar Alexander, with his mystical visions, his chimerical moods. Talleyrand, cunning & duplicitous, who would act as a victor tho he represented a defeated nation. Castlereagh, alone in His Majesty's government to understand the necessity for a Concert of Eur... more »ope, who single-handedly built Britain's foreign corps & who would end a suicide. Wellington, the Iron Duke, who would go on to underwrite the diplomatic decisions with military victory. Metternich, the force majeure, seemingly everywhere at once, trading, entreating, finagling in his unremitting attack on the forces of liberalism. Along with a supporting cast of rogues & mistresses, clairvoyants & spies, they turned Vienna into a theater of intrigue that shaped the face of Europe for a century to come. Hovering over it all, the brooding presence of the man who was not there: Napoleon Bonaparte, whose shadow was the force that drove them to find common ground. He would confirm their worst fears, breaking free of exile to challenge them on the plains of Waterloo.« less
ISBN-13: 9780805031843 ISBN-10: 0805031847 Publication Date: 10/15/1997 Pages:560 Edition:1st American ed Rating: