In this brief and readable study, noted biographer Edmund d'Auvergne recounts the life and times of Napoleon III and the times that reigned across Europe. An arch political schemer he capitalised on the ferment in French society that carried on even after the fall of his uncle, the Emperor Napoleon, to gain the summit of his power. However, his actions in power were frequently moderate in nature toward his French subjects, but his attempts to increase the power of France in Europe would ultimately be met by the crushing brilliance of a resurgent Prussia under Bismarck.