Publications

Pierre Branda's new (in every sense of the word) biography of Josephine is a breath of fresh air. He rightly consigns to the past the emphasis on Josephine's loves and excesses, concentrating rather on her remarkable ability to survive, whether a failed first marriage, time in Revolutionary prison, almost execution, childlessness or even imperial divorce. […]

 Franck FAVIER, Berthier, l'ombre de Napoléon, Paris, Editions Perrin, 355 pagesDavout, Lannes, Murat, Ney, Lefebvre… these are all well-known figures, synonymous with the dashing glory of the Napoleonic epic. Strangely, Berthier rarely appears in lists of this sort, as if he had not played an active role in the Emperor's successes and failures. And yet, […]

Portly squires and young dandies. Jane Austenesque heroines and their gruesome chaperones. Dashing young officers and corrupt politicians. The keenly observant satires by English caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) make clear his sharp eye for current affairs as well as his appreciation of the humour in everyday life.High Spirits brings together nearly one hundred comic works […]

From the publishers: “Between 1740 and 1832, England witnessed what has become known as its 'golden age of caricature'. This coincided with an era of dramatic social and political change both at home and abroad. In this period of intense international war and rivalry, Britain's relationship with France proved particularly turbulent, leading to suggestions that its […]

Napoleone in caricatura is the catalogue of the exhibition (external link in Italian) that took place earlier this year (2015) at the Museo Glauco Lombardi in Parma, Italy, with extensive texts are by Francesca Sandrini and Mariachirara Bianchi.  

Napoleon's other Wife is not a biography proper. It begins with Marie-Louise in 1810 preparing for her marriage to Napoleon, nineteen years after Mozart's death (the first entry in the ‘Short Chronology for the life of Marie-Louise) and also Marie-Louise's birth. These first nineteen year are never recounted. The book claims to be a reconstruction […]

From the publishers:Jeffrey N. Cox reconsiders the history of British Romanticism, seeing the work of Byron, the Shelleys, and Keats responding not only to the 'first generation' Romantics led by Wordsworth, but more directly to the cultural innovations of the Napoleonic War years. Recreating in depth three moments of political crisis and cultural creativity – […]

From the publishers: In the second half of the nineteenth century, state and municipal governments oversaw the explosive growth of public parks, squares, and gardens throughout the city of Paris. In Planning the Greenspaces of Nineteenth-Century Paris, Richard S. Hopkins skillfully weaves together social and cultural history to argue that the expansion of these greenspaces served […]

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Paris was known for isolated monuments but had not yet put its brand on urban space. Like other European cities, it was still emerging from its medieval past. But in a mere century Paris would be transformed into the modern and mythic city we know today.Though most people […]

Paris: Les Boulevards (Facsimile) texts (in English) by Pamela Golbin, illustrations by Charles Franck From the publishers: Pulled from the shelf of a rare-book store by collector Neale M. Albert, Paris: Les Boulevards is a true gem that was forgotten for well over a century but will now enchant readers once again in this charming facsimile edition. Paris's romantic […]