Edward Shawcross on The People's Emperor: The Unlikely Rise and Spectacular Fall of Napoleon III

We're delighted to welcome Edward Shawcross to the bookshop for The People's Emperor. Described by Simon Sebag Montefiore as a 'five star' book "written to be enjoyed" - " a gripping, fascinating biography that rightly rehabilitates the statesman but also relishes the power, the sex and the fun of his extraordinary rise and fall."

Edward Shawcross is the author of The Last Emperor of Mexico. He has a PhD in specialising in nineteenth-century France. The People's Emperor is a riotously entertaining biography of 'the other Napoleon.'

'Rigorously researched, endlessly illuminating. The People's Emperor is a real page-turner'
ED CONWAY

'Bold, brilliant and often bonkers, The People's Emperor is a thunderously good read'
JUSTIN MAROZZI

Born into imperial splendour, Louis-Napoleon - the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte - grew up far from power after the defeat at Waterloo. In exile, he repeatedly plotted, unsuccessfully, to restore his uncle's empire. Few took him seriously.

But what followed is one of the most astonishing, impossible stories in history. Aged 40, Louis-Napoleon would be elected president of France. Three years later, he seized power to become emperor.

Napoleon III's story is one of self-belief, political skill and radical innovation - the first person to master mass democratic politics and populism. Yet, despite being one of the most important trailblazers of the nineteenth century, he is largely misunderstood today, if not totally forgotten.

His strange rise and catastrophic fall is a story of both tragedy and farce, set during some of France's most tumultuous decades.