Audiobook14 hours
Vienna 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna
Written by David King
Narrated by Mel Foster
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this audiobook
The Napoleonic Wars had torn Europe apart, and the peace conference of 1814 was to be held in the continent's grandest city: Vienna. Everyone had an agenda in the postwar world, and spy networks, bitter hatreds, illicit affairs, and tangled alliances ensued.
Despite the gravity of the situation, the Hapsburg Emperor of Austria, in opening his splendid rococo palace to the European royals and providing elaborate banquets and lavish entertainments, set the stage for the most extravagant pageantry since the fall of the Roman Empire. Guests were swept up in the dazzling whirlwind of social events—masquerades, hunts, and elaborate dinners—even as maps were being redrawn, rulers reinstated or ousted, and fortunes transferred. Ultimately, the Congress of Vienna ushered in the longest period of peace Europe has ever known. Vienna 1814 is a rich, impeccably researched history of the intrigue and frivolity that would forever mark the Congress of Vienna as the greatest Vanity Fair of all time.
Despite the gravity of the situation, the Hapsburg Emperor of Austria, in opening his splendid rococo palace to the European royals and providing elaborate banquets and lavish entertainments, set the stage for the most extravagant pageantry since the fall of the Roman Empire. Guests were swept up in the dazzling whirlwind of social events—masquerades, hunts, and elaborate dinners—even as maps were being redrawn, rulers reinstated or ousted, and fortunes transferred. Ultimately, the Congress of Vienna ushered in the longest period of peace Europe has ever known. Vienna 1814 is a rich, impeccably researched history of the intrigue and frivolity that would forever mark the Congress of Vienna as the greatest Vanity Fair of all time.
Author
David King
David King's work has been broadcast on BBC Radio and published in print and online magazines and anthologies in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand. In the UK's World Wide Writers Magazine (now incorporated in Writers' Forum), his story 'For a Yellow Jersey' won the £3,000 award for Best Short Story of the Year 2000.
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Reviews for Vienna 1814
Rating: 4.142857142857143 out of 5 stars
4/5
7 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lightly written; very light view. The characters and stories fun.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A complex tale told vividly from 30,000 ft, so to speak, with connections through to C20. The narration is marred, sometimes hilariously, by enthusiastic and well meaning mispronunciations that seem to me the epitome of Americanised tour guides in Europe. The battle of Waterloo and the uncertain love-lives of the major players stand out as particularly dramatic and well-told tales. Recommended for general readers who want a broad look at a major piece of history that remains nevertheless not easily reducible to a single story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is a piece of serious scholarship, based on hundreds of sources, with detailed analysis of the facts. It is also highly readable with a cast of hundreds of characters, many of whom were the crowned heads of Europe but who were also mad, bad, and dangerous to know. The whole event becomes somewhat surreal when you learn that the full Congress never met. Yet out of the deliberations of the participants who often worked through informal get togethers at the lavish salons and balls, came arrangements for a post-Napoleon era where some international borders are still recognisable today. Insightful and well-written, this is a story to ponder over and wonder how so much could be achieved affecting so many people.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oh so good, but drags just a touch.