Napoleonic Pleasures

La fête impériale, par Frédéric Loliée (Paris: F. Joven, 1907) Almost forty years after the fall of the Second Empire, people began to be nostalgic for that gay, insouciant Paris of Napoleon III, not however forgetting (or perhaps remembering especially) the darker side to her reputation. Whilst the extraordinary costume balls, the lights, the cafes, […]

Le vrai patineur (The true skater), Delespinasse, 1813 Whilst it is true that nowadays in winter in cities and towns the world over, children of all ages in search of a turn on the ice can find an outdoor rink in the town centre, Parisians of the First Empire looking for a quick skate had […]

Napoleon, a life, by John Holland Rose The life of Napoleon I: including new materials from the British official records, London : Bell, 1901 Born in Bedford, England, and after studying at Bedford Modern School, Holland Rose (1855 – 1942) was later educated at Owens College in Manchester in the 1870s. He was then elected […]

A History of the Peninsular War, by Sir Charles Oman Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman (January 12, 1860 – June 23, 1946) was born in India, the son of a British planter, and was educated at Oxford University, where he studied under William Stubbs. He was elected to the Chichele chair of modern history at […]