He began his career as a court cleric and rose to become bishop of Autun, a position he retained until his involvement in the radical reorganization of the church during the French Revolution brought about his excommunication and marked the beginning of his career as a statesman and diplomat. Talleyrand achieved great power and influence under Napoleon I as foreign minister and chamberlain of the empire. But it was as France's representative at the Congress of Vienna that Talleyrand demonstrated his diplomatic skill to the fullest by dividing the four allies and winning for France an effective voice in the Settlement of Vienna.
Born into the high aristocracy, where rank meant more than wealth, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord was to become one of the great politicians of all time. His early career in politics was marked with turmoil: a liberal who saw the need to curb the powers of the monarchy, Talleyrand fled from France when the violence of the revolution turned extreme in 1792, first to England and then to the United States. It was not until his return to France after the dust had settled in 1796 that his star would begin to rise in earnest. First, he was appointed Foreign Minister. In this position, he aligned himself with the charismatic general who would become Emperor of France: Napoleon Bonaparte. In the course of the next three decades, Talleyrand would prove himself perhaps the most adept politician of all time: his political pliability allowed him to survive the fall of Bonaparte and the consequent second Bourbon restoration. He was in the shadow of power in Europe through more upheaval than perhaps any other person of his generation. Napoleon’s Master is a riveting portrait of an eternally fascinating man.
The extent of Talleyrand's political complicity as foreign minister and his resultant important influence in the two coups d'etat--the coup du 18 fructidor and the coup du 18 brumaire--that accelerated Napoleon's rise to power are made abundantly clear. His relationship with the short Corsican general reads like a penny novel, ranging from his early, behind-the-scenes role that helped lead Napoleon to the imperial throne, to when he was Napoleon's collaborator and confidant during the early days of the empire, and ending, finally, with Talleyrand's betrayal of Napoleon, and the emperor's ultimate exile almost two decades later. ...The rest of his long life Talleyrand tried to reduce and downplay his role in this cataclysmic upheaval from that of key participant to that of simple spectator. This notion is turned upside down by Rosalynd Pflaum's painstaking research in original, contemporary documents that have only recently been made available in France. In Talleyrand and his World, she skillfully pieces together his true influence, his political activity, and his intrigues during this critical time.
A renegade bishop and aristocratic revolutionary, he helped make and break the power of Napoleon. With bravura he then dominated the Congress of Vienna which re-shaped Europe, but soon discovered that the Bourbons had, in his own words, 'learned nothing and forgotten nothing'. Disgrace followed. The Revolution of July 1830 finally brought a renewal of Talleyrand's former influence. So, in his late seventies, he arrived as ambassador in London, where he and his beautiful companion, the duchesse de Dino, dazzled and captivated British society. At the end, his famous death-bed reconciliation with the Catholic Church created almost as great a scandal as his notorious early life. In this authoritative new biography, Talleyrand emerges as always ahead of his times. He urged the advantages of peace, while Europe was racked by war; he consistently advocated political moderation, a free press and a liberal constitution; he was a forceful proponent of Anglo-French entente; he understood the importance of free trade as the route to national prosperity; and he foresaw the rise of America as a great power. Robin Harris depicts a statesman of truly world-class stature.
The Lives of Talleyrand is a study of the character and actions of the man who so profoundly influenced the destiny of the French Revolution and helped to shape the contours of all Europe as well. The requisite historical background is of course given, but it is the many-faceted personality of Talleyrand which the author has made it his task to portray--and he has done so with discrimination and wit.
French cuisine is such a staple in our understanding of fine food that we forget the accidents of history that led to its creation. Accounting for Taste brings these "accidents" to the surface, illuminating the magic of French cuisine and the mystery behind its historical development. Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson explains how the food of France became French cuisine. This momentous culinary journey begins with Ancien Régime cookbooks and ends with twenty-first-century cooking programs. It takes us from Carême, the "inventor" of modern French cuisine in the early nineteenth century, to top chefs today, such as Daniel Boulud and Jacques Pépin. Not a history of French cuisine, Accounting for Taste focuses on the people, places, and institutions that have made this cuisine what it is today: a privileged vehicle for national identity, a model of cultural ascendancy, and a pivotal site where practice and performance intersect. With sources as various as the novels of Balzac and Proust, interviews with contemporary chefs such as David Bouley and Charlie Trotter, and the film Babette's Feast, Ferguson maps the cultural field that structures culinary affairs in France and then exports its crucial ingredients. What's more, well beyond food, the intricate connections between cuisine and country, between local practice and national identity, illuminate the concept of culture itself. To Brillat-Savarin's famous dictum—"Animals fill themselves, people eat, intelligent people alone know how to eat"—Priscilla Ferguson adds, and Accounting for Taste shows, how the truly intelligent also know why they eat the way they do. “Parkhurst Ferguson has her nose in the right place, and an infectious lust for her subject that makes this trawl through the history and cultural significance of French food—from French Revolution to Babette’s Feast via Balzac’s suppers and Proust’s madeleines—a satisfying meal of varied courses.”—Ian Kelly, Times (UK)
