The roads to emancipation

Charles Melgers, the Antwerp 'gazettier', is in Vienna when negotiations are taking place in 1815 on the European agreements that will lead to the formation of the Holy Alliance. The map of Europe is being rearranged by diplomats and crowned heads, while Charles and his son Gerard narrowly escape from the clutches of the Austrian secret service under Baron Hager. Back in Antwerp, news awaits them that comes as a bolt from the blue: the eagle has escaped from his place of exile on the island of Elba and is on its way to Paris. Louis XVIII has to flee again. This time to Ghent, where his arrival is greeted with intrigues and conspiracies. The 'hundred days' end on the bloody battlefields of Quatre Bras and Waterloo. Under Dutch rule, our regions are heading for an apparently peaceful time, but political differences and dynastic problems cause discord and intrigue within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 'The Roads to Emancipation' reconciles the critical reader with history and adventure in a dynamic and exciting way.