The extent of Talleyrand¿s political complicity as foreign minister and his resultant important influence in the two coups d¿état¿the coup du 18 fructidor and the coup du 18 brumaire¿that accelerated Napoleon¿s rise to power are made abundantly clear. His relationship with the short Corsican general reads like a penny novel, ranging from his early, behind-the-scenes role that helped lead Napoleon to the imperial throne, to when he was Napoleon¿s collaborator and confidant during the early days of the empire, and ending, finally, with Talleyrand¿s betrayal of Napoleon, and the emperor¿s ultimate exile almost two decades later.