Talleyrand [Paperback]

Duff Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Series: Grove Great Lives | Publication Date: March 30, 2001

Unique in his own age and a phenomenon in any, Charles-Maurice, Prince de Talleyrand, was a statesman of outstanding ability and extraordinary contradictions. He was a world-class rogue who held high office in five successive regimes. A well-known opportunist and a notorious bribe taker, Talleyrand's gifts to France arguably outvalued the vast personal fortune he amassed in her service. Once a supporter of the Revolution, after the fall of the monarchy, he fled to England and then to the United States. Talleyrand returned to France two years later and served under Napoleon, and represented France at the Congress of Vienna. Duff Cooper's classic biography contains all the vigor, elegance, and intellect of its remarkable subject.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Politician, diplomat, scholar and bon viveur, Duff Cooper won the DSO in the Great War and married society beauty Lady Diana Manners. He had an important ministerial career in the 1920s and '30s which ended with his resignation from the Cabinet over the Munich Agreement. Called back to office by Churchill, his chequered wartime career culminated in a spell as Ambassador to France. After his retirement he returned to his first love, literature; his writing ranges across biography, poetry and fiction. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st Grove Press ed edition (March 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802137679
• ISBN-13: 978-0802137678
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #414,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written introduction to a fascinating man, April 14, 2004

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Talleyrand (Paperback)

Talleyrand was one of the world's great "characters", a man of wonderfully succinct and wounding epigrams ("what's not to love-- he's so vicious" was his friend Montrond's assessment), and a man of tremendous skill and foresight in statecraft whose wisdom would do us a spot of good today ("true strength is that which moderates itself" and, faced with Napoleon's plan to cross the Neiman and invade Russia, the wonderful reply "to do what?"

As the "cult of Napoleon" rose in France, Talleyrand, along with Fouche and Marshal Marmont became reviled, the hated betrayers of the Emperor-- never mind that the Emperor was bleeding France white in pusuit of his own personal glory.

As a consequence, this book, written in the 1930s by a British diplomat, to some extent reintroduced the French to the talents of their greatest statesman. The definitive French biography of the same time, by Lacour Gayet, is more detailed, but ultimately diminishes Talleyrand's achievements.

Cooper is ideally placed to interpet Talleyrand-- the salon society that the Prince belonged to is now long gone, but Cooper has a first-hand sort of feeling for the ways in which upper crust Anglo-French society mixed social and policy issues, and the role that women played in the mix.

He also writes beautifully. Talleyrand is a tough brief in that regard-- the man writes so elegantly and sharply that mediocre writers just end up stringing together the bon mots-- not Cooper, whose own cleverness is on display, particularly in the descriptions of the Congress of Vienna.

This is an older book, and does not make use of the last 70 years of research, so its dated in many ways (particularly the discussion of Talleyrand's early eccelesiastical career, which was pretty much a blank until Louis Greenbaum began exploring original material in the '60s-- and Talleyrand's position as Agent General of the French Church is important to understanding the development of his remarkable political skills). There are also no footnotes.

In English, I'd also recommend the excellent "The Lives of Talleyrand" by Crane Brinton, a sort of intellectual history. . .its somehow striking that Talleyrand's greatest defenders are a British diplomat and an American college professor.

In French, Lacour-Gayet is the standard, while Michel Poniatowski's works produced a wealth of new information, if not a full life.

But for any general English language reader seeking an introduction to the man, this is the book, hands down, no question. Read it for content, and read it to remind yoursel of what good writing should be like. . .

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Biography, January 19, 2004

By 

Thomas Vaughan (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Talleyrand (Paperback)

What a fun biography! Duff Cooper writes with the confidence of a man who has led an interesting life himself.

Talleyrand's years span some of the most fascinating times in France (in my opinion). He embodied the corruption of the old regime, the spirit of the revolution, and the hubris of Napoleon's empire. Through (and in spite of) it all, he seemed to keep a level head when those around him got carried away.

I found Talleyrand to be one of the most inspiring figures in history, and I think that is in no small part to Cooper's engaging writing style.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prince of Diplomats, August 4, 2000

By 

Elaine Lee (BOGOTA Colombia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Talleyrand (Hardcover)

The best condensed book on " The Prince of Napoleonic Diplomacy", and the last one hundred days of the emperor's reign. Like Fouche a great visioner of the future and " Bon vivant ", who also knew when to keep a low profile at the right time . He sorted successfully his ups and downs and survived all the french revolution storm, from the reign of terror to the Vienna Congress.