Rites of Peace

Rites of Peace follows the collapse of Napoleon’s domination of Europe and the diplomatic struggle to determine what would replace it. Adam Zamoyski begins with the weakening of Napoleon’s position after the Russian disaster and moves through coalition warfare, abdication and the gathering of rulers and diplomats at Vienna, where borders, dynasties and competing national interests were negotiated.

Metternich, Talleyrand, Castlereagh, Alexander I and Wellington are among the central historical actors, and Napoleon’s return from Elba adds a final military crisis to the negotiations. The German book titled 1815: Napoleons Sturz und der Wiener Kongress is a translation of this work, not a separate book. Rites of Peace is nonfiction diplomatic history.