The Shadow Emperor

A breakout biography of Louis-Napoleon III, whose controversial achievements have polarized historians.Considered one of the pre-eminent Napoleon Bonaparte experts, Pulitzer Prize-nominated historian Alan Strauss-Schom has turned his sights on another in that dynasty, Napoleon III (Louis-Napoleon) overshadowed for too long by his more romanticized forebear. In the first full biography of Napoleon III by an American historian, Strauss-Schom uses his years of primary source research to explore the major cultural, sociological, economical, financial, international, and militaristic long-lasting effects of France's most polarizing emperor. Louis-Napoleon's achievements have been mixed and confusing, even to historians. He completely revolutionized the infrastructure of the state and the economy, but at the price of financial scandals of imperial proportions. In an age when "colonialism" was expanding, Louis-Napoleon's colonial designs were both praised by the emperor's party and the French military and resisted by the socialists.He expanded the nation's railways to match those of England; created major new transoceanic steamship lines and a new modern navy; introduced a whole new banking sector supported by seemingly unlimited venture capital, while also empowering powerful new state and private banks; and completely rebuilt the heart of Paris, street by street.Napoleon III wanted to surpass the legacy of his famous uncle, Napoleon I. In The Shadow Emperor, Alan Strauss-Schom sets the record straight on Napoleon III's legacy.

1. Prince Louis Napoleon2. A Son and His Father3. Auguste de Morny4. Gentlemanly Pursuits5. Return to Arenenberg6. Romance and Ructions7. What Hath God Wrought8. Farewells and Asylum9. "This Grand and Glorious Undertaking": Boulogne or Bust10. Funeral for an Emperor11. To Ham, with Love, Tosh, and Toil12. Marking Time13. A Pure New Holy Republic: 184814. President of the Republic Bonaparte15. The Elysee16. Countdown to Empire17. The Rubicon File18. The Spnix of the Tuileries19. Violets and Wedding Bells20. Birth of an Empire21. Georges Haussmann22. Prefect of Paris23. Crosses, Candlesticks, and Swords: The Crimea24. A Ver Special Relationships25. A Child of France26. An Italian Opera27. Return of the Carbonaro: Italy, 185928. Four Seasons29. Inquisition at Baden: 186030. Offenbachland31. Fields of Empire32. An Arab Kingdom33. Bismarck: War Watch34. Ebb Tide35. Count Bismarck's War: 187036. To Berlin!37. "Were You at Sedan, Henri?"38. Elgy for an EmperorAfterwordNotesSelect BibliographyIndex