9 x 6 in.  336 pages.  26 illustrations, 6 maps.

1815: THE RETURN OF NAPOLEON is history seen through the eyes of the people who were there. This brilliant new book paints a dramatic picture of Napoleon's amazing return to power in the spring of 1815 and gives a day-by-day account of the long march from Antibes to Paris.

Drawing on hundreds of first-hand accounts by Napoleon's supporters and opponents, Paul Britten Austin recreates the drama of those tumultuous days of the Spring of 1815 and throws light on the mixed French response to the unexpected return of their former emperor. 1815: THE RETURN OF NAPOLEON recreates, in the words of those present, Napoleon¹s dramatic landing at Antibes in the south of France, the first heady days of his arrival after almost a year of exile, his almost miraculous march across France, his arrival in Paris and the coup which led to the fall of the Bourbons.

Paul Britten Austin's technique, so brilliantly presented in his 1812 trilogy on Napoleon¹s invasion of Russia, brings historical events to life and gives a dramatic insight into the hopes and fears of the French nation in that Spring of 1815.

Here, just outside Grenoble, the returning emperor faced one of his greatest challenges as he found the road blocked by an infantry regiment ­ the 5th Line:

'Everyone, both in the Guards battalion and in the troops from Grenoble, was electrified. Clad in the little grey overcoat which so often had a magical effect on the men, and accompanied by Drouot, Cambronne and the Grand Marshal, Napoleon came forward to within pistol range.' Then, 'taking two or three more paces forwards', he halts. And there's a sudden silence. Peyrusse thinks he hears him say in a hoarse and ­ on account of his bad cold ­ just now not very resounding voice:

'Here I am. Soldiers of the 5th Line, recognise me ... If there's a soldier among you who wants to kill his emperor ...' ­ unbuttoning his grey overcoat ­ 'he can do so.'

Randon of the 5th Line confesses that, 'It would be impossible to express the feelings this threw us into, or to exactly report my words in these circumstances. The cavalrymen, sabres sheathed, reached the men of the 5th Line, began parleying with them, broke them up; and almost instantly shouts of Vive l'Empereur! rang out on all sides. As if by an electric chain reaction the 5th's state of exaltation swept through the ranks of the battalion, and in a twinkling of an eye shakos were on bayonet points, and the tricolour cockades they had in their packs had supplanted the white ones.'

Greenhill Books  ISBN 1-85367-476-1

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