To be employed by a towering military and political figure such as Napoleon Bonaparte during the entire period of his active life gives the astute observer an incomparably privileged position. Claude Fran?ois de Méneval remained a secretary and close confidant of the emperor from 1802 to 1815 and was especially attached to the Empress Marie Louise. Thanks to the author's notes and exceptional memory, these memoirs were published in 1894 and immediately became the most authoritative document used by every historian of the Napoleonic era. Besides being a most efficient secretary and note-taker, Méneval was also himself a man of letters, and his writing style, clear and unadorned, makes for a wonderful reading of history in the making during a most fascinating era.