An even-handed, page-turner that enables the reader to begin to understand an enigmatic statesman who exercised profound influence during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. In studying Talleyrand, one appreciates his unestimable intellect and rhetorical gifts; and his contribution to the stability of Europe and the greater world both during his time and through the early 20th Century. Mr. Cooper's book paints a concise, yet illustrative, portrait of a legend with his tumultuous times as a scenic, but undistracting, background.

The best condensed book on " The Prince of Napoleonic Diplomacy", and the last one hundred days of the emperor's reign. Like Fouche a great visioner of the future and " Bon vivant ", who also knew when to keep a low profile at the right time . He sorted successfully his ups and downs and survived all the french revolution storm, from the reign of terror to the Vienna Congress.