The dramatic story of Napoleon’s escape from Elba and march on Paris—in the words of eyewitnesses and participants.

Drawing on hundreds of firsthand 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, Napoleon’s 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, author of an acclaimed trilogy on Napoleon’s 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.