After a dizzying rise to power, the 35 year old Napoleon Bonaparte faced his downfall in the summer of 1805 when first Russia and then Austria allied themselves with Britain to destroy the French Empire.  A fourth great power, the kingdom of Prussia, waited in the wings for Napoleon to falter and would then join the alliance too.  Deciding not to wait while his enemies slowly mobilized, Napoleon and his Grande Armee, encamped for nearly two years at Boulogne waiting to invade England, broke camp and marched east.  This is the story of how Napoleon defeated his enemies, winning his greatest military triumph at Austerlitz and broke the alliance in just four months time on December 2, 1805.  This campaign, culminating in this famous battle, is the supreme accomplishment of the greatest military mind of his age and, perhaps, of any age.