Press reviews

The BBC website (UK) features a short report on the burial ceremony for eighteen unnamed French soldiers, members of the Grande Armée which invaded Russia in 1812, who perished in Lithuania during Napoleon's retreat. It is estimated that between 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers died near Vilnius, but accurate statistics are hard to come by. France's […]

The Institute of Historical Research website (UK) this month features a review from Peter Sinemma of the University of Alberta, of The Illustrated London News Historical Archives, 1842-2003. The online archives are edited by Nicholas Berg.   Click here for the review (external link).

We here at the Fondation Napoléon continue to follow closely the debate regarding history and education. On The Guardian website (UK), it's the turn of British historian Simon Schama to address the subject of history and history teaching in the UK. Arguing (unsurprisingly) that history is an essential tool for understanding and exploring Britain's cultural, […]

The December issue of History Today (UK) features a short article by Peter Snow, lamenting the lack of attention given to the Napoleonic Wars and Wellington in the British school curriculum. Elsewhere, there's an article on the reconstruction of Alexandria during the 19th century initiated by the Ottoman governor, Muhammad Ali. Finally, Hugh Small offers […]

The latest issue of Apollo Magazine, a British publication dedicated to the visual arts, features an article from Susan Jenkins on the British government's purchase of Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, by Antonio Canova. The history of this purchase, which took place in 1816, takes in protracted negotiations taking place in the upper echelons of European […]

The National Galleries of Scotland (UK) website features a photo of Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, more commonly known as Plon-Plon, taken by André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri, whose close connections with the French government and ruling imperial family allowed him to develop and expand his photography business during the Second Empire period.   Click here […]

The Guardian (UK) website reports on the UK's National Maritime Museum's item of the month, a letter from Robert Hope – serving on HMS Temeraire – written just after the Battle of Trafalgar. The letter is unusual simply because it is neither an official account of the battle, nor a report written by an officer, but the voice […]

The David Rumsey Map Collection website (USA) features a couple of Napoleonic maps available for consultation online.   One traces Napoleon Bonaparte's route from Elba to Paris between 26 February and 20 March, 1815, whilst the other depicts the extent of the French Empire in 1811.  The website features a powerful zoom function allowing the user to investigate the […]

The November 2010 issue of History Today (UK) features an article on the Pentrich Rebellion, England's last attempted revolution, which took place in 1817. There is also a book review of Tim Blanning's The Romantic Revolution. “The Pentrich Rebellion”, by Susan Hibbins (external link)   Tim Blanning's The Romantic Revolution, reviewed by Daniel Snowman (external link)

In this issue:   “The Battle of Zakharina”, by Ray Roussell, p4“The Frasnes Letter, Part 2”, by John Hussey, p10Napolenic Newsdesk, by Paul Chamberlain, p18Under Review, by Paul Chamberlain and Blaine Taylor, p20“The Battle of Caulk's Field 31st August 1814”, by Blaine Taylor, p23“General Baron Gaspard Gourgaud”, by Peter Friedman, p27“The 9th foot 'East Norfolk'”, […]