Publications

February 1811. Marshal Victor had besieged the Spanish city of Cádiz for a year. Generals Manuel de Lapeña and Thomas Graham, at the head of Spanish and British troops, disembarked at Algeciras and at Tarifa and led their men towards Chiclana in order to attack the French lines from the rear. On 5 March, the […]

Readers may be of the initial opinion that the view of an officer of the Commissariat Department would be necessarily less dynamic tyhan that of a regimental officer. In fact, Daniel's position as a non-combatant has proved to be the exact opposite and of particular value to those interested in his subject matter by his […]

By the editor of Letters from the Battle of Waterloo, this is the story of two young Welsh cavalry officers who served for much of the Napoleonic Wars with the 15th (King's) Hussars. Major Edwin Griffith and his nephew, Captain Frederick Philips ('Rico' to his family), wrote home regularly, and they were not afraid to […]

The battle on Sunday 18 June, 1815 near Waterloo, Belgium, remains one of history's most argued-over battles. The british victory nevertheless became iconic, a triumph of endurance that ensured a 19th Century world in which Britain played a key role. It was also a defining moment for the French, bringing Napoleon I's reign to an […]

Between 1831 and 1866, Théophile Gautier published two dozen tales which can be designated contes fantastiques or contes merveilleux. These works are examined in chronological sequence, in French, in order to follow the development of Gautier as a writer of fantastic stories. The analysis concentrates in particular on problems of genesis and intertextuality, and highlights […]

Castorland, “the land of beavers,” is a vast tract on the Black River between Lowville and Carthage in Lewis County, New York. Two hundred years ago, nobility and clergy retreating from the French Revolution founded settlements in this area. Drawing on the Castorland Journal, a day-to-day account kept by Simon Desjardins and Pierre Pharoux, Edith […]

In Progressive Enlightenment, Leslie Tomory examines the origins of the gaslight industry, from invention to consolidation as a large integrated urban network. Tomory argues that gas was the first integrated large-scale technological network, a designation usually given to the railways. He shows how the first gas network was constructed and stabilized through the introduction of […]

In The Weight of Vengeance, Bickham provides an account of America's forgotten war, underscoring its significance for both sides by placing it in global context. The Napoleonic Wars profoundly disrupted the global order, from India to Haiti to New Orleans. Spain's power slipped, allowing the United States to target the Floridas; the Haitian slave revolt […]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) is considered by many to have been one of the greatest writers on war. His study On War was described by the American strategic thinker Bernard Brodie as “not simply the greatest, but the only great book about war.” It is hard to disagree. Even though he wrote his only major […]

Napoleon was a breaker of worlds. He made and remade most of the European continent almost at will, for well over a decade. Much of our world was forged as a consequence of his actions. Ever since we have taken our revenge – whether as scholars, novelists, politicians or private citizens – by making, unmaking […]