The Congress of Vienna marks a turning point in European history. It succeeded in establishing a unique and lasting peace order that lasted until the outbreak of World War I. Eberhard Straub paints a vivid picture of an entire era in which a political Europe became a reality. The Congress of Vienna not only danced but also worked. After the Napoleonic Wars, which had plunged Europe into complete chaos, kings and diplomats endeavored to create a new Europe of security and solidarity from the ruins of the old world. Eberhard Straub portrays the major players, including Metternich, Talleyrand, Hardenberg, and Humboldt, and shows how they laid the foundations for Europe to assert itself as a sovereign unity in diversity for another 100 years. Unlike after World War I, the victors prevailed.