M. Imbert de St. Amand furnishes in his volume on the epoch of Napoleon III a brilliant and variegated review of The Court of the Second Empire during the years 1856-1858 -- the three years of peace and pomp and greatness at home and abroad that separated the Crimean from the Italian war. These were the happiest years of the Empress, the most auspicious ones of the Emperor. The little Prince Imperial had been born, success and military glory had reconciled the whole nation to its ruler, the country was prosperous, and Napoleon III was the central and most important figure in international politics. At this time, M. de St. Amand tells us, he was a man of action, not the idle dreamer he has been so often represented to be: the broken-down, sick victim of destiny of 1870 cannot be traced in the successful ruler of 1856. He is a later, an entirely different creature. All the brilliant events of the three years covered by the book are described with M. de St. Armand's well-known vivid coloring. The baptism of the heir to the throne, the coronation of the Czar, at which Morny played so important a part, the visit of the Prince of Prussia, who was to return again to the great exposition, and to receive Napoleon's sword at Sedan, the visit to Queen Victoria -- all are sketched with the brilliancy they evoke. Then follow the attempt of Orsini, and, finally, the tour in Brittany. The author furnishes clear pictures of Morny, Persigny, and Cavour, amongst others, and leaves the reader at the end of the book with a profound impression of the brilliancy of that period, when not a cloud had yet appeared upon the horizon, and Bismarck's eye was still turned apprehensively towards Austria as the hereditary foe of Prussia. Like its predecessors, the book is well provided with portraits. --The Book Buyer, Vol. 18

Excerpt from The Court of the Second Empire Invariably self-possessed, the former outlaw and captive was as tranquil in gladness as in sorrow. If his letters are ever published, as has happened in our day to those Of Napoleon I., we do not believe they will be found to contain a single phrase, a single word of hatred or anger. M. Pinard, one of his ministers, has said: He became familiar with those who had been his earliest friends without permitting them to cross the distance separating them. He was always the Emperor; but his voice at that time had inflec tions of great sweetness, and, I may add, Of great power as well. The sovereign whom the political world sometimes called William the Silent had in private conversation a seductive charm which the firstcomer might not suspect, but of which women had an intuition. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.