Vienna 1814 by David King

From The Week of August 01, 2010

Mr. King's chronicle of the Congress of Vienna, a meeting of royal minds to re-draw the borders of a post-Napoleon Europe, is easily in my top five reads of 2010. He seems as captivated by the pomp of the event as he is by its politics, an even-handed interest which spices the dryness of the history here with the proper dose of juicy scandal.

Ravaged by the ruinous Napoleonic Wars and determined to forge some kind of coherent peace out of two decades of instability, the leading monarchs of Europe, and or their representatives, traveled to Vienna in 1814 to negotiate an understanding that would allow an exhausted continent to catch its breath. What was intended to be a few weeks of talks, however, ballooned into nine months of sometimes violent arguments in which national borders were changed, whole countries were acceded to various empires and the very future of France was decided. But while the agreements that would keep Europe peaceful for the next 50 years were being hammered out in private, Vienna was having a ball, actually, hundreds of them. Europe's leading lights had attracted some of the continent's best entertainment. Each night, performances were staged, some of which were guaranteed to have royal attendance. And amongst all this frivolity, serious romances were carried out, some of which affected the men negotiating the futures of entire populations.

Though the Congress itself is interesting, the men who attended the negotiations are the stars of Mr. King's tale. From the diplomats like brilliant Talleyrand and overwhelmed Metternich, to the rulers like Czar Alexander and King Frederick, the rivalries and disagreements and pettinesses and indulgences are wonderful and scandalous, leaving little doubt as to why the Congress took so long to conclude.

This was, for many decades, the most pivotal event in recent European history. Its decisions not only changed the fates of nations, it euthanized the French Revolution and, across Europe, re-asserted the dominance of monarchical rule for half a century to come. Mr. King gives us a seat at that long ago table, a seat with a clear line of sight of all the participants and all their dirty deeds. We just may want to disinfect the seat first before we sit down and listen. Who knows where it has been, or what its occupants have been up to. (4/5 Stars)