Interviews : 6
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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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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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InterviewThe ‘discovery’ of the manuscript of the “Mémorial de Sainte Hélène”: Three questions for… Peter Hicks, October 2017On the occasion of the publication of the original manuscript of the Emmanuel de Las Cases Le Memorial de Sainte-Hélène, discovered and commented on by four researchers from the Fondation Napoléon – Thierry Lentz, Peter Hicks, François Houdecek, and Chantal Prévot – we asked each…