The Escape From Elba: The Fall & Flight of Napoleon 1814-1815The year is 1814. The Allies have driven Napoleon's once-mighty armies back to Paris. Trapped, forced to abdicate after two decades of triumphant rule, the Emperor takes leave of his comrades-in-arms and sets sail for his new domain - the tiny, poverty-stricken, pestilential island of Elba. Yet within ten months Napoleon will enter Paris once again, at the heels of the fleeing Bourbon king, flushed with victory and cheered by the masses. The Escape From Elba tells the heroic story of Napoleon's exile and phoenix-like return. In this classic account, now republished in paperback, Norman MacKenzie chronicles this extraordinary year: the tense last hours of Napoleon's empire, his humiliating exile, his midnight escape and his whirlwind march over snowbound mountains to Grenoble where, in a dramatic confrontation with the French army, he became a reigning prince again. Described in vivid detail are Napoleon's adventures as the head of Elba. He brought society, splendour, organization and political intrigue to this run-down backwater. And he displayed on this small stage the many sides of his charismatic. |
Contents
Prologue | 2 |
1 The fall of the colossus | 5 |
2 Surrounded by wolves | 23 |
3 An ambiguous mission | 39 |
4 Journey into exile | 48 |
5 A change of fortunes | 61 |
6 The King of Elba | 71 |
7 A very small island | 85 |
13 Confidential friends | 156 |
14 The threat of default | 171 |
15 Perfidious intrigues | 179 |
16 Necessary preparations | 188 |
17 The last of Elba | 205 |
18 The flight of the eagle | 217 |
19 The test of success | 231 |
20 Caught in a whirlwind | 249 |
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The Escape from Elba: The Fall & Flight of Napoleon, 1814–1815 Norman MacKenzie Limited preview - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
abdication Adye agents Allies Antibes army arrived asked Austrian Bertrand Blacas Bonaparte Bonapartist Bourbons brig British Cambronne Campbell wrote Campbell's Capraia Captain carriage Castlereagh Caulaincourt Colonel command Comte Comte d'Artois Corsican Dalesme despatches Drouot duc d'Orléans Elba Elban Emperor Empress escape Europe exile fear Fleury Fontainebleau Fouché France French frigate garrison Genoa Grenoble Guard harbour hope imperial Inconstant intrigue island Italian Italy King of Elba Köller leave leon letter Livorno London Lord Louis XVIII Lyons Macdonald March Maret Marie-Louise Mariotti Marmont Marshal Metternich miles military Minister morning Murat Naples Napo Napoleon night officers Oil Merchant once Paris Partridge Pauline Pauline's peace Peyrusse Pianosa Piombino police Pons Portoferraio Prince reached regiments reported Rome royal royalist Russian sail secret seemed sent ships soldiers soon sovereigns talk Talleyrand throne told town treaty troops Tsar Tuscany Undaunted Ussher Vienna Villa Mulini weeks