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On a cold December day in 1840 Parisians turned out in force to watch as the body of Napoleon was solemnly carried on a riverboat from Courbevoie on its final journey to Les Invalides. It may seem curious to begin a biography by focusing on an event twenty years after the protagonist's death, but that is just what Alan Forrest, professor of Modern History at the University of York, has done. Having written extensively on the impact of war on a country's citizens and civilians during the Napoleonic period, Alan has now turned his attention to Napoleon Bonaparte himself. In this short interview, he explains this new direction and what he set out to accomplish with this biography. (February 2012) |