To be employed by a towering military and political figure such as Napoleon Bonaparte during the entire period of his active life allow an astute and precise observer such as the Baron an incomparable opportunity to record history in the making. Claude-Francois de Meneval (1778-1850), a member of the old nobility, remained as private secretary, close confidant and trusted collaborator of the emperor from 1802 until Waterloo in 1815. He was to remain particularly close to the Empress Marie-Louise. Thanks to the author's private notes and his phenomenal memory, these memoirs were first published in Paris in 1827 and in English translation in 1894 contemporaneously in London and New York. These memoirs immediately became a key document for historians of the Napoleonic period because of the detail view they provide of Napoleon, his family and the history of the period but also because of their high literary quality and historical interest. Meneval, who was also a novelist and great letter writer, knew most of the men and women of letters of his time and they are also very much a presence in this extraordinary book.
About the Author Baron Claude-Francois de Neneval was born in Paris in 1778 and spoke good English, learned through a British nanny. He was an excellent student and wrote several novels. Through his friend, the author Palissot, he met Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, who introduced him to the future emperor. From then on he worked for Napoleon as his main secretary. He died in Paris in 1850.