This is a portrait of the Emperor Napoleon's second marriage which provides an account of its political, diplomatic and military implications for France and the newly instituted Austrian Empire as well as the personal and domestic nature of the relationship. Born in 1791 in Vienna, Marie-Louise was the daughter of the last holy Roman Emperor. She grew up under the threat of invasion and by the time Napoleon's army entered Vienna in 1805 she was a refugee in Hungary. Marriage between her and the Emperor was a matter of diplomatic expediency. The book follows what happened, examining these and subsequent events.