Talleyrand: A Biography - JF Bernard

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was at the heart of European politics for fifty years. Aristocrat of the ancien régime he was a bishop at 35, a renegade and a revolutionary a few years later. He fled the Terror, and returned to high office under the Directory and Empire. Napoleon he served, admired, judged, rejected and betrayed. When the Bourbons returned, Talleyrand survived and through his negotiating skills did much to save his country. Fifteen years later he once again judged his master wanting and plotted to destroy him. Charles X was ousted, Louis-Philippe installed, and the indestructible Talleyrand survived once more to serve his country this time in London. Cynical, rapacious, unscrupulous, generous, wise, far-sighted the charm of his person and the diversity of his character make him an irresistible subject for the biographer. Yet amazingly no full-scale biography of importance has appeared for more than forty years. The explanation, perhaps, lies in the bewildering richness of the material which must first be mastered much of it only made available in the last few decades. J.F. Bernard handles his subject with the absolute authority of one who knows it inside out, he writes with wit, style and lucidity, above all he presents a Talleyrand who is neither saint nor devil but a credible human being. This is a masterly study of one of Europe's most fascinating men.

ISBN: 0002113910

Pages: 653

Hardcover with DJ

Collins, 1973

Good condition; very mild foxing to eps; DJ chipped/edge-worn

B119