Press reviews

One of the many fascinating threads of Napoleon's life on the island of St Helena is the story of Napoleon's English lessons. Disgusted at his inability to read English, Napoleon insisted that Las Cases give him a lesson every day with the goal of being able to read without hesitation or difficulty the English newspapers […]

The publishers Foundation Theme Magazines (Netherlands) have decided to publish a six-issue Napoleonic magazine in Dutch related to Napoleon's stay in the Netherlands in October 1811. During this short period Napoleon visited Holland, travelling from Zeeland to Texel, from the western coast to the border of Germany in the east. He spent two weeks in […]

The special number of Dix-Neuf, “Flaubert: Shifting Perspectives”, features an article by Anne Green entitled “Sous Napoléon III: New Thoughts on Flaubert's 'Second Empire Novel'”. Dix-Neuf is the journal of the Society of Dix-Neuviémistes, and is available online (subscription-based) via the website ingentaconnect. Click here for the issue table of contents (external link).

With spring 2011 marking the 200th anniversary of the French retreat from Portugal and Maréchal Masséna's dismissal as commander of the French forces, the May issue of History Today (UK) features a quick look back at the Battle of Albuera (Richard Cavendish's “Months Past”). Click here for the short article (external link).

Between 1919 and 1921, Poland, isolated in a Europe and pressured by a Britain hostile to its territorial intentions – particularly in upper Silesia – had only France to rely on for moral and material support. Recognition of the countries' shared history, a time when the two nations were united in arms, notably during the […]

The distinguished British military historian, Richard Holmes, has died after a battle with cancer. Having won a scholarship to read History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Holmes graduated and spent a year at Northern Illinois University, completing a PhD on the French army during the Second Empire before joining the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst as […]

IMMO RPM's request for a construction permit, which if granted would include the demolition of the historic farm at Quatre-Bras, has been denied by the Collège communal de Genappe (Genappe's executive council).   Full details can be found on the website Les Monuments de l'Empire (external link in French).

The BBC website (UK) features an article on the MacDonalds of France, written by journalist John Morrison. The documentary “Domhnallaich na Frainge”, on the subject of Neil MacEachen – whose son Étienne Jacques Joseph Macdonald became a maréchal de France – is being screened on BBC Alba (Freesat channel 110 and Sky channel 168) on 25 […]

The Château de Malmaison has recently acquired a watercolour painting of St Helena, produced by Denzil Ibbetson, a British commissary who accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte on his journey to St Helena on board The Northumberland. An accomplished painter, Ibbetson produced a number of sketches and drawings during his time on the island, including a depiction of […]

One of the latest book reviews published on the Institute of Historical Research's website, Reviews in History (UK), concerns Ian Coller's Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798-1831. Of particular relevance at the moment following the recent introduction of a law in France banning the wearing of the niqab and burqa in […]