Napoleon's Exile, Rambaud - B

                 In 1813, the allies closed in on Paris. Every conceivable group was ready for life after Napoleon, but it was the royalist supporters of Louis XVIII who would prevail. The armies of Russia, Austria, and Prussia entered the city, as did their monarchs. As his armies deserted or were captured, Napoleon offered up a regency by his wife for his infant son if he abdicated. The allies refused, and Napoleon abdicated unconditionally. He waited at Fontainebleau for their decision as his entourage slowly slipped away. He was being sent to Elba. The ride south to the coast saw him cheered and threatened. After five days at sea, he arrived in May 1814 at "a block of jagged black rocks." He was well-received and began the process of governing the island, which was soon buzzing with activities intended to improve the economy. Napoleon was trying to turn a "sleepy sub-prefecture" into "an operatic principality" overnight. Towards year end, word reached the island that there was unhappiness in France at the return of the Bourbons, and the grasping clergy. Many whispered desirously of the Emperor's return. Bored, frustrated by the failure of France  to pay the agreed upon annuity, concerned about rumors from the Congress of Vienna that Talleyrand was plotting to send him to St. Helena's, and intrigued by the unpopularity of Louis XVIII, Napoleon set sail, returned to France and was back in Paris on March 20th. This trilogy is excellent, although I believe the first two were a bit better than this one.