Press reviews

Each year sees the town of Lyon (France) host, on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the Fête des Illuminations. This year, the latter took place over several days, from 5 to 8 December. But it is a little-known fact that this celebration of light was inaugurated during the reign of Napoleon III. Started by the Cardinal […]

The British History website (UK) features an article by Neil Gunn on French prisoners of war in Scotland during the Napoleonic wars. The article also includes mention of the cultural, culinary and social interaction between the French captives and the Scottish locals. Click here for the article (external link).

The BBC News website (UK) features a report on an Egyptian archaeologist's demand that the Rosetta Stone, found by Napoleon's troops during the Egyptian campaign and now housed in the British Museum, London, be returned to Cairo. Click here for the report (external link).

Following a reclassification of the archives of the Neapolitan Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Decennio Francese period (part of the Naples State Archives), the inventory has been published online, available for public use. This reclassification allows the user to track each level and sub-level of the archives, using individual reference numbers which can then […]

The Open Book programme on BBC Radio 4 (UK) recently featured an interview with Michele Roberts in which she discussed the newly translated and annotated edition of Clisson and Eugenie, written by Napoleon Bonaparte. The full programme is available on BBC iPlayer.   Click here for the full programme (external link).

The Irish Independent website (Ireland) features an article on Stanley Kubrick's plans to direct a Napoleon film, the troubles he faced, as well as other film directors and their failed projects.   Click here for the article (external link).

The Bolaffi Napoleonic and Asburgic Memorabilia auction which begins on 4 December, 2009, at 4pm, has a consultable online catalogue invaluable.com. Bids can also be made online through the aforementioned website. Featured in the auction are miniature statues of Napoleon I, portraits, and snuff-boxes.   Click here for the lots and further information (external link).

The entertainment websites Worthplaying.com and Cinemablend (US) feature further information about the upcoming computer game Napoleon: Total War, including new screenshots and the different versions of the game that will be available for purchase in February 2010. Click here and here for the article (external link).

The latest book reviews on the Institute of Historical Research website (UK) are Sans-Culottes: An Eighteenth-Century Emblem in the French Revolution by Michael Sonenscher (review by Richard Whatmore), and Living in Sin: Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England by Ginger Frost (with review by Tanya Evans). All links are external.   Sans-Culottes: An Eighteenth-Century […]

In a follow up to our recent book of the month, the English translation of Clisson and Eugenie with commentary by Emilie Barthet and Peter Hicks, “The Book Show”, a literary programme on the Australian radio station ABC Radio National, features an interview with Peter Hicks. In it, he talks about the novella written by […]