Rites of Peace

<p>Following Napoleon's defeat and exile in 1814 the future of the European continent hung in the balance. Eager to negotiate a lasting workable peace representatives of Britain Austria Prussia and Russia--along with a host of lesser nations--gathered in Vienna for an eight-month-long political carnival combining negotiations with balls tournaments picnics artistic performances and other sundry forms of entertainment for the thousands of assembled aristocrats. While the Congress of Vienna resulted in an unprecedented level of European stability the price of peace would be shockingly high with many crucial questions ultimately decided on the battlefield or in squalid roadside cottages amid the vagaries of war. </p><p>Internationally bestselling author Adam Zamoyski's <em>Rites of Peace</em> is a meticulously researched masterfully told account of these extraordinary events and their profound historical consequences featuring a cast of some of the most influential and powerful figures in history.</p>