Reviews for Vienna 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna

The average rating for Vienna 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-05-23 00:00:00 Carcel Marc Okay, so you know how you're in that airport bookstore because you've tragically finished off your book before its even time to take off? (Because naturally nobody on goodreads would be caught there because they forgot to bring a book.) So you're standing, torn, between that shelf of NYT bestsellers, cheap thrillers, a few Serious Looking Histories... and those shiny, shiny pretty ridiculously indulgent magazine racks and trying to pretend like you don't care /at all/ if Brangelina had the world's most beautiful baby? (Or, for men, I don't know... sports porn magazines full of ridiculous statistics that you do not EVER need to know but like saying when you've had too many beers?) Okay, so this book solves all your problems. This should be placed strategically in the center of all these locations, and advertised better with a few more ripped bosoms on the cover, it would sell like hotcakes. I promise you. This book has something for us all. Yes, you probably need to care a bit about history and have some very basic knowledge about the Napoloeonic Wars (but really the bare facts of there was this little French dude Napoleon who tried to conquer Europe and pissed off everyone in the meantime and then got his own Mediterraean island afterwards while everyone tried to fix the continent in Vienna afterwards will suffice. Oh, also, the Bourbons are sissies). But other than that? You can really just dive right into this one. The first third of the book spends some time setting up the various important personages who took part in the congress, giving detailed character studies of their histories and personalities. It also deals with the various roads (both literal and figurative) that the nations took to the Congress, and the various positions that everyone came into it with, as well as what they wanted. He could have written the whole book just about that, these people are so incredibly colorful and rich. Metternich, Talleyrand, Tsar Alexander, Castlereagh, Wellington, and various little kings, princes, ministers and lords are all there, and all have their famous witty lines, shining moments, crazy rages, and emotional breakdowns to detail. This was the Romantic period, and these people embodied it to a T. Then he really gets into the good stuff. The 19th century was the century of diarists and letter writers, and the Congress was an epicenter of all of that. So there are sooo many good first hand accounts of "he said this at a party," and so many juicy quotes. Almost all the principals wrote memoirs or diaries of the time, so the first hand research is really really good. He really gets into the various rounds of political intrigue, combined with the parties in between the conference meetings, how people tried to stab each other in the back at balls, delivered devastating one liners at the opera that wrecked someone's career, how jockeying for seating at a concert was an olympic sport, and the /fortunes/ that people spent on doing all of it. Even better, the various love affairs going out throughout the Congress. He tends to stick to the ones at the very upper eschelon, but also takes particular glee in talking about the tsar's affairs with flower girls, princes' fruit selling mistresses, and this or that minister's pretty boy tucked out of the way. For some juicy examples: Prince Metternich's devastating affair with the Duchess of Sagan is chronicled in painstaking detail, showing this powerful, stern, intelligent man reduced to howling at the wind for this woman who didn't love him (they quote from his love letters to her frequently), and how the congress almost broke down from his lack of attention to the proceedings due to how distracted he was with his doomed pursuit of her. It also details the Duchess' rivalry with the Princess Bagration, a Russian noblewoman who used to be Metternich's lover, and is jealous of Sagan and wants to take her down, and so teams up with the Tsar (who hates Metternich), to plot against her. Some scheming person with a sick sense of humor put their apartments across a courtyard from each other in the same building, which makes it all the more intense as they host rival salons to each other. Talleyrand's young niece Dorothee (Sagan's younger sister) is only twenty when she comes to be the embassy's hostess, fleeing from a bad marriage and the death of a child, and comes out her powerful uncle's lover, having slept around with various military heroes and noblemen along the way. ... and on and on and on, weaving in these affairs into the intrigue and showing how these various loves, jealousies, jokes (Metternich's joke on the secretary of the Congress, Gentz, on April Fool's Day is absolutely fantastic) affairs gone sour and bitter rivalries shaped the outcome and course of the congress. The only complaint I have is that it wrapped up too soon, moving on to talk about Napoleon's Hundred Days after the escape from Elba, the campaign at Waterloo, Wellington's leadership, the state of affairs in France, etc. I wish that he had spent even more time detailing the various ins and outs of the Congress rather than moving away towards Napoleon. But that only happens right at the end, and obviously you can't not acknowledge it. (the earlier dealings with Napoleon in the book reveal a lot about his life on Elba and say a lot about why he left, so /that/ part is really intersting.) But I just felt like I knew a lot of the historical fact already, and you can find detailed military strategy in history books. I wanted more of the juicy character study and petty intrigue, is all, since that was clearly the book's strength. Anwyay, obviously highly recommended. You'll breeze right on through it I promise. Incredibly fast read. It's more like a novel than a historical book, really. He should have made it into one. If I were more ambitious, I would. I should. But yeah, it also makes for a great one to read out loud. Seriously, we were giggling insanely at some of the love letters written by the most powerful men of the era describing their devotion to their mistresses. You MUST do dramatic readings at that point. You're really missing out if you don't. Ed. Note: This is taking a little longer to get through than I thought it would, but only because the boyfriend and I have decided to read it aloud to each other, not because it isn't good. On the contrary, this is a rollicking, wonderfully good time, written like a colorful epic novel. We're just savoring it as much as possible with a deliciously slow reading. Original: OH. HELL. YES. My favorite historical period, combined with lots of gossip and intrigue. Hoping to really get into this on my vacation next week.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-12-11 00:00:00 Andrew Bonnett "Kings, queens, princes, and diplomats would all pour into the city of Vienna in the autumn of 1814 for the highly anticipated peace conference. More than 200 states and princely houses would send delegates to settle the many unresolved issues. How were the victors to reconstruct the war-torn continent? How were they going to make restitution to the millions who had lost family members or suffered the horrors of Napoleonic domination? The Vienna Congress offered a chance to correct the wrongs of the past and, many hoped, create the 'best of all possible worlds.' Reasoned opinion predicted that all negotiations would be wrapped up in three or four weeks. Even the most seasoned diplomats expected no more than six. But the delegates, thrilled by the prospects of a lasting peace, indulged in unrestrained celebrations. The Vienna peace conference soon degenerated into a glittering vanity fair: masked balls, medieval-style jousts, and grand formal banquets - a 'sparkling chaos' that would light up the banks of the Danube." First off, many thanks to Kelly for writing a great review of this book back in 2009 - she raved about this book, and I've always had it in the back of my mind when browsing the history section in bookstores. A few months ago, I finally found a copy and bought it. Never mind that I know nothing about the Napoleonic Wars aside from the fact that Napoleon got banished, escaped and invaded France again, and then got banished for real a second time; never mind that the only thing I knew about the Congress of Vienna was that I confused it with the Treaty of Versailles on an AP Western Civ test in high school. I was promised gossip, intrigue, politics, romance, gossip, parties, and a heaping dose of more gossip - so I was on board. And guys, Vienna 1814 delivers. I would say without reservations that this is probably the most readable history book I've ever come across. King's writing is clear and flows easily, and I had no trouble keeping the large cast of characters straight, despite never having heard of most of them. He does a wonderful job portraying all the different aspects of the Vienna Congress - on the one hand, you had all the delegates working around the clock to restore Europe to its pre-Napoleon state (which involved, among other things, deciding which of Napoleon's relatives would be allowed to keep the titles he had bestowed on them and which should be returned to the rightful heirs) and trying to keep everyone happy (which was impossible, of course) while at the same time there was a crazy party every single night, as well as salons where all the political powers were gathered. Often, a diplomat could accomplish more by attending a ball for an hour than he could by working in his office all day. And meanwhile, as all of this is happening, Napoleon is sitting on Elba, tenting his fingers and plotting his return to France. It isn't until he actually succeeds, landing in France and recruiting an army almost instantly, that all the Vienna Congress delegates look around and say, "Well, damn. Guess we'd better start figuring this out for real" and actually accomplish what they set out to do six months ago. All the characters (and they really feel like characters, not historical figures) are great, the descriptions are beautiful, and you shouldn't shy away from this book if you know almost nothing about Napoleon. Basically, if those first two paragraphs I quoted from the book intrigue you at all, the rest of the book will not disappoint.