The Age of Elegance 1812-1822

In The Age of Elegance Bryant's saga of the Napoleonic Wars and their aftermath comes to a climax, succeeding The Years of Endurance and The Years of Victory. Ths volume opens in 1912 with Napoleon marching into Russia and Wellington's men knocking open the door into Spain. It describes first the brililant campaigns which brought the dictator to his knees and then the splendid and opulent island capital and the rich countryside from which for a generation resistance to Revolutionary France had stemmed. Then the scene shifts to the peacemakers at Vienna and the field of Waterloo. Bryant then surveys the England that had emerged after so many years of struggle and development. It was an England rich, powerful and victorious, overflowing with energy and self-confidence...