Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna - Rilegato

‘Deeply researched, elegantly written, gleaming with the political and sexual depravity of the Congress that decided the fate of Europe, Zamoyski's “Rites of Peace” is outstanding – a delicious, triumphant feast of a book.’ Daily Mail

‘Impressively detailed diplomatic history; it deals with the fate of nations and dynasties and the doings of emperors, kings and princes. The author keeps up a strong narrative drive, guiding the reader through the tortuously involved negotiations of the Congress.’The Economist

‘Zamoyski's...account of the labyrinthine twists of diplomacy is both masterly and exhaustive...I closed the book full of admiration for its author.’ Sunday Times

‘Not since Margaret MacMillan's instant classic on the Treaty of Versailles has there been a book on diplomacy of such richness and readability...an exhilarating book...Zamoyski advances his case with a story-telling detail that makes his book hard to put down...Zamoyski has achieved a rare feat. He has taken the driest of diplomatic archives and turned them into a compelling narrative.’ The Guardian

‘Zamoyski, who is fluent in six European languages, has covered this maddeningly complicated period with scholarship, comprehension and detachment...(he) has given us an intimate understanding of this most complex of times.’Daily Telegraph

‘Zamoyski...writes elegantly and vividly, and deftly balances the complex details of the negotiations with colourful portraits...(his) achievement is to have brought to life one of the great turning-points in European history.’ Sunday Telegraph

'Magnificent...Zamoyski is a considerable linguist as well as a historian steeped in the period...the work of an accomplished raconteur and a formidable scholar...I doubt there will be many more important or rewarding books than this published this year.' The Times

'Adam Zamoyski has written a vigorous, colourful sequel to his much praised account of Napoleon's march on Moscow in 1812.' The Spectator

Adam Zamoyski was born in New York, was educated at Oxford, and lives in London. A full-time writer, he has written biographies of ‘Chopin’ (Collins 1979), ‘Paderewski’, and ‘The Last King of Poland’, as well as a history of Poland and ‘Holy Madness: Romantics, Patriots and Revolutionaries 1776-1871’ and ‘1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow’. He is married to the painter Emma Sergeant and lives in London.