Napoleon’s Legacy: Problems of Government in Restoration Europe

Stemming from a conference of the same name held at the Institute of Historical Research in London on 18/19 April, 1997, this interesting collection of essays details the complex and contradictory legacy of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire. It is divided into three main sections, ‘The Apparatus of State’, ‘The Legacy of Annexation’ and ‘Political Opposition and ‘Social Control”, and includes essays by (amongst others) Charles Esdaile, Michael Broers, Michael John and Pamela Pilbeam. The editors argue that ‘the [Restoration] period is a crucial one for understanding the politics and problems of stat(e formation’ and hope that the book will ‘encourage students and scholars to view the Restoration as a period worthy of study in its own right’.