An insider’s experience of Prussia under Napoleonic domination. Count Heinrich von Blumenthal was one of Prussia’s richest 25 subjects, a personal friend of the king with everything to look forward to until the battle of Jena changed his world. This is his own personal testimony of how, tricked by courtiers, let down by the weakness of the King, and caught by circumstances, he lost his son on the field of Borodino, his property to a court intrigue, and his position in society, all in the space of nine years. Moving, interesting and containing unpublished material about the von Schill uprising, this book deserves a place on the shelf of anyone interested in the Napoleonic era or anyone who has been on the wrong side of current affairs.