Napoleon and Marie Louise - Tapa dura

This is the first portrait of the Emperor Napoleon's second marriage, providing a fascinating account of its political, diplomatic and military implications as well as the personal and domestic nature of the relationship.
Marie-Louise was born in Vienna in 1791, the daughter of the last Holy Roman Emperor. She grew up under the threat of invasion and by the time Napoleon's army entered Vienna in 1805 she was a refugee in Hungary. Marriage between her and the Emperor was a matter of diplomatic expediency, but if Napoleon hoped that his wife's position would save France from further war with Austria, he was disappointed. One of his letters to Marie-Louise was disastrously intercepted and gave the Russians the best route to Paris. However, as the city fell, Marie-Louise with great courage remained loyal to her husband. Though Napoleon tried to arrange for her to join him on Elba, in 1816 Marie-Louise entered Parma as its official sovereign and lived there as benevolent Duchess with a cultural legacy that survives today.

Alan Palmer is an author and historian. His many critically acclaimed works include Alexander I: Tsar of War and Peace, Metternich, Councillor of Europe and The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Among Alan Palmer's books are Napoleon in Russia, Metternich, Alexander I and Twilight of the Habsburgs.