Press reviews

'Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's scandalous brother' by Shannon Selin “Lucien Bonaparte was Napoleon's most articulate brother, and the only one unwilling to subordinate himself to Napoleon. Politically ambitious, he played an indispensable role in Napoleon's rise to power. However, he refused to give up his wife when Napoleon demanded, thus – unlike his siblings – he never […]

“The Fires of Paris: Why do people still fight over the Paris Commune?”, by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker (22nd December, 2014) “The Paris Commune of 1871 was one of the four great traumas that shaped modern France. It stands alongside the 1789 Revolution, the ascent of Vichy, in 1940, and (odd though it seems, given […]

“Whose War of 1812? Competing Memories of the Anglo-American Conflict“, review by Jasper Trausch on www.history.ac.uk “…The Canadian historian C. P. Stacey once remarked that the War of 1812 is ‘an episode in history that makes everybody happy, because everybody interprets it differently'. Americans believe they gave their former mother country a good drumming, Canadians pride themselves […]

Davide Geronazzo, “Bassano Napoleonica”, published at Academia.edu:   “… Come in tutto il territorio della ex Repubblica veneta, l'insediarsi del regime napoleonico a Bassano e nel suo comprensorio fu accolto perlopiù come una disgrazia inevitabile ma della quale si auspicava una durata più breve possibile…”  

Mark Jarrett, “The Struggle for Poland in the Congress of Vienna”, in History Today, vol. 64, no. 12 (December 2014), pp. 39-44 [online edition here]:   “…Vladimir Putin is by no means the first Russian leader to threaten his neighbours with force and annexations. Two centuries ago European statesmen faced a similar predicament. Only then […]

Review of Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte, by Kate Williams in the New York Times, 5 December 2014, online edition:   “…This year marks the bicentennial of the death of Josephine Bonaparte, but Napoleon's empress has been having a moment for some time now. In the past two decades, she has […]

'The Genius of Metternich: Austria's Resurrection Through “Active Neutrality”' by Franz-Stefan Gady in The National Interest (3 December 2014)   “Despite its weaknesses, the Habsburg Empire under Metternich succeeded in obtaining a strategically and politically advantageous position in the run-up to the last war with Napoleon. By navigating between great powers during the Napoleonic war, […]

Waterloo: The Aftermath by Paul O'Keeffe; The Longest Afternoon by Brendan Simms; Waterloo by Tim Clayton – review by Paul Kemble in The Guardian (27 November 2014) 'As its bicentenary approches, a bloody battle and its consequences are newly appraised. “Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained.” That's not quite what Wellington […]

“A Beef with Wellington”, by Frank McNally in Irish Times (28 November 2014) 'With the bicentenary of Waterloo almost upon us, news that Napoleon's hair is to feature in a limited edition Swiss watch is just the latest proof that the Frenchman, despite losing the battle, won the war.His personality cult is nothing new, of course. […]

“The unfinished battles of Waterloo”, by Simon Heffer in New Statesman (27 November, 2014) “Waterloo was not merely a battle, nor merely a critical moment in British and European history, but something that has left a profound imprint on our culture. Byron, 27 at the time, famously recorded the Duchess of Richmond's ball in Brussels three […]