Interviews : 55
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InterviewJohn Bew on CastlereaghViscount Castlereagh, arguably one of the most important Foreign Secretaries in British history and a key architect of the Congress of Vienna, nevertheless came out of the nineteenth-century with a poor reputation. John Bew's biography, Castlereagh: Enlightenment, War, and Tyranny, re-evaluates the man whose political… -
InterviewAlan Forrest on NapoleonOn 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… -
InterviewThierry Lentz: four questions on the 1812 Malet AffairOn 23 October 1812, with Napoleon and his army far away and under the cosh in Russia, General Malet attempted to overthrow the Napoleonic regime. In this, four-question interview, Thierry Lentz – author of La conspiration du général Malet, published by Perrin – addresses some… -
InterviewMichel Dancoisne-Martineau: a St Helena passionSince 1987, Michel Dancoisne-Martineau has been the French honorary consul and curator of the French domains on St Helena. In May 2011, he will be publishing Chroniques de Sainte-Hélène Atlantique Sud, a collection of accounts describing life on the island for some of the lesser-known characters… -
InterviewChantal Prévot: "Les Paysans de Napoléon : aspects de la vie quotidienne et des mentalités" (March, 2010)At the start of the 19th century, the peasantry accounted for eighty percent of the French population. And although this silent majority has received very little attention from historians, the history of the rural classes is nevertheless rich in diversity, complexity, and even contradictions, both in the way… -
InterviewEmilie Robbe: the Musée de l’Armée and the ATHENA projectIt's the rentrée in France, the moment when people go back to work, children go back to school, and the summer rolls to a close. It is also the moment for us to look back on the the Musée de l'Armée's ATHENA project. Launched in 1996, the project, to redevelop and modernise the Musée de […]
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InterviewThierry Lentz: three questions on the "mysteries" of St. Helena
Napoleon was poisoned! Despite historians' best efforts, Rumour continues to flourish, endlessly seeking to make the transition between Myth and History. Faced with the media's continuous undermining, it has become necessary once again to take the matter in hand and redress the balance. The new publication by Thierry Lentz and Jacques Macé, La Mort de […]
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InterviewEmmanuel de Waresquiel: Les Cent-Jours, ou la tentation de l’impossibleEmmanuel de Waresquiel is a graduate of the Ecole normale supérieure, a doctor in history, a research fellow at the Ecole pratique des hautes études and author of biographies on Talleyrand (published by Fayard, 2003) and the Duc de Richelieu (published by Perrin, 1991) as… -
InterviewJacques-Olivier Boudon on his book, Le roi Jérôme, frère prodigue de NapoléonThree questions for Jacques-Olivier Boudon on the publication of his new biography of Jerome Bonaparte, Fayard 2008.
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InterviewRichard Harding on A Great & Glorious Victory – New Perspectives on the Battle of TrafalgarFour questions to Professor Richard Harding, editor of A Great & Glorious Victory: New Perspectives on the Battle of Trafalgar, published by Seaforth Publishing.