Interviews : 55
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InterviewPierre Branda: thanks to his clandestine writings “instead of being forgotten as the British government had hoped, the emperor Napoleon was still being talked about” in Europe (May 2021)
In 1817 and 1818, Napoleon had three works published in London in order to mobilise public opinion for his return to Europe. Pierre Branda details this extraordinary “literary breakout” in his Écrits clandestins, the new title in “La Bibliothèque de Sainte-Hélène” series published by Perrin*. (Interview by Irène Delage, May 2021). napoleon.org: In your new book, […]
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InterviewFrançois Houdecek: With General Bertrand’s St Helena Cahiers or notebooks, “Here we are at Napoleon’s bedside at Longwood, as he breathes his last”.A brand new edition of General Bertrand’s Cahiers de Sainte-Hélène [St Helena Cahiers or Notebooks], revised, completed and annotated by François Houdecek, (a specialist in the Correspondence of Napoleon I) has just been published (in French) by Perrin in the collection “Bibliothèque de Sainte-Hélène”, under…
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InterviewMichel Kerautret: “Napoleon’s relationship with Eugène was unique. Napoleon did have a paternal streak to him, but it was only with Eugène that he was only able to show it over time.” (January 2021)As the historian Michel Kerautret points out, few people were as close to Napoleon for as long a time as Eugène de Beauharnais. Although Eugène appears to have lived in the Emperor’s shadow, there is great value in an unbiased study of his position alongside…
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InterviewArthur Chevallier: “Napoleon is not just linked to political history; he can also be a role-model”Arthur Chevallier, a thirty-year-old on the go, already the author of several notable works on Napoleonic history, including, very recently, Napoleon and Bonapartism in the prestigious French book series “Que sais-je?” (a sort of super-charged version of “X for Dummies”), is one of the main…
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InterviewPierre Branda: Napoleon on St Helena “Never in the history of the world have so much money and land been given up to keep a single man in chains” (January 2021)In this interview for napoleon.org, Pierre Branda evokes some of the insights and revelations that came out of his 600-page study of one the most impressively organised and costly incarcerations ever conceived. (with Marie de Bruchard, translation PH)
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InterviewPatrice Gueniffey: Napoleon, de Gaulle, and the “Great Man” question (October 2020)In February 2017, Patrice Gueniffey published Napoléon et de Gaulle, deux héros français. On the occasion of the English translation Napoleon and de Gaulle: Heroes and History (2020), we have translated the interview he gave us back in February 2017 about his book and his approach…
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InterviewLaetitia de Witt: The Aiglon: a political life (September 2020)Laetitia de Witt is the author of the biography L’aiglon. Le rêve brisé de Napoléon (The Aiglon, Napoleon’s dream dashed, ed. Tallandier; published with the “Année Napoléon 2021” logo). In it, she goes beyond the romantic myths engendered by the short life of Napoleon’s heir. Here,…
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InterviewThierry Lentz: a Dictionary that “recounts, with small brush strokes and large ones, Napoleon’s entire life”.Thierry Lentz is a historian, specialist on the Consulate and the Empire, director of the Fondation Napoléon, and he has ‘lived’ with the Emperor for four decades. The 300 entries in his Napoléon. Dictionnaire historique (published in September 2020 by Perrin) are shot through with…
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InterviewAntoine Bourguilleau: “By playing wargames, the historian may end up asking questions they have never asked themselves. “(June 2020)Gaming has come of age in recent years. In France and across the rest of Europe, there has been an increase in symposia and seminars on the subject of role-playing games and the “gamification” of society. Games themselves are objects of curiosity and have become…
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InterviewFanny Farieux > from Caravaggio to Napoleon: I like the way light and shadow play across faces, the look in the eyes, the the way emotions are expressed, and the overall balance of the features”
Napoleon.org : Fanny Farieux, have you always liked drawing? Fanny Farieux: Drawing is an activity which takes you on a journey, and sometimes requires you to concentrate so much so that you end up forgetting everything else which is quite a nice feeling. As far back as I can remember I have always drawn, I always […]