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EDITORIAL
Quite naturally, authors and publishers have set their clocks to coincide with the bicentenary of 1815. Here in France we've seen a plethora of important books. Today we're presenting Emmanuel de Waresquiel's remarkable Fouché, and recently there's been Thierry Lentz's book on the Vienna congress (recently translated into German), Pierre Branda's work on Elba, not to mention the sumptuous atlas of Paris in the Napoleonic period by Irène Delage and Chantal Prévot. In Britain we've seen some remarkable publications. Andrew Roberts' impressive Napoleon the Great just landed on my desk, to sit alongside Roger Knight's Britain against Napoleon (out last year), Tim Clayton's Waterloo and Munro Price's Napoleon: The End of Glory. And there's more to come with, notably, the English translation of Patrice Guennifey's Bonaparte and Michael Broers' second volume of his Napoleon, soldier of destiny, hopefully coming out next year.
There were great book written for the centenary of the Napoleonic episode – indeed Norwood Young's Elba (see below) was one such – but from our vantage point it looks like the bicentenary is going to knock the socks of that!
Peter Hicks
International Affairs Manager
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BOOK OF THE MONTH > FOUCHÉ. LES SILENCES DE LA PIEUVRE, BY EMMANUEL DE WARESQUIEL
“Fouché the member of the Convention, the regicide, the 'proconsul' of Nevers and Moulins, the 'gunner of Lyon', the destroyer of Robespierre, Napoléon's nightmare” – in Fouché. Les silences de la pieuvre, Emmanuel de Waresquiel digs into every corner of the life of a man as secretive as he was contradictory. This is Fouché as you've never seen him before. Summary in English here.
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14-16 NOVEMBER > NAPOLEON HISTORICAL SOCIETY CONFERENCE
Join the Napoleonic Historical Society as they celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans in the city where it took place. The NHS will be headquartered in the Chateau LeMoyne, in the heart of the French Quarter, for a weekend of conference papers, talks, tours, guided visits and more. Click here to find more information on this year's Napoleon Historical Society Conference.
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NAPOLEON'S MAMELUKE > THE MEMOIRS OF ROUSTAM RAZA, IMPERIAL BODYGUARD, EDITED BY JONATHAN NORTH
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, to Armenian parents, Roustam Raza was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Cairo. Given as a gift to Napoleon Bonaparte, Raza spent fifteen years as the Emperor's bodyguard. This brand new edition of Raza's memoirs offers an incredible, first-hand perspective on the Emperor and his world.
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DIGITAL LIBRARY > NAPOLEON IN EXILE AT ELBA (1814–1815), BY NORWOOD YOUNG
Despite the fact that Norwood Young's work on Napoleon on Elba has been surpassed by Pierre Branda's recent publication, there is still much in his Napoleon in Exile: Elba that is worth reading on the centenary of its publication. Find it digitized here as part of our Digital Library.
200 YEARS AGO > FIRST HEATED EXCHANGES AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA
Talleyrand, Louis XVIII's delegate at the Congress, had hardly been in Vienna a week when he began to cause difficulties for the four great re-organising powers of Europe: Austria, Russia, Great Britain, and Prussia. As early as 30 September, when a ministerial meeting was held, Talleyrand, the Prince du Bénévent, had sought to protest against the plans made by the great powers who had defeated Napoleon. The exclusive negotiating powers of the victor nations, however, had been agreed since the Treaty of Chaumont in March 1814, in the fifth article which stated that “the major negotiating parties reserve the right to consult amongst themselves […] on the best means by which to secure Europe and to ensure the upholding of this peace.” Talleyrand was supported by the Spanish delegate, the Marquis of Labrador, since Spain likewise did not want to conform to the desires of the great victors. If the Spanish delegate did not hold the French delegate in great esteem, they nevertheless agreed to work together to raise the positions of their respective countries during these negotiations. As Gentz, the secretary of the Congress, reported: “They protested against the form that we had adopted; they scolded us for a good two hours; it was a scene I shall never forget.”
150 YEARS AGO > THE EMPEROR'S BLADDER STONES
It is well-known that Napoleon III died on 9 January 1873 due to complications following two unsuccessful lithotripsies – operations attempting to remove a large calculus (stone) from his bladder. Less well-known, however, are firstly the length of time for which he suffered from bladder stones and secondly the chronic pain they caused him. The first reference to the Emperor's discomfort is found in a secret police report of 1853, which notes, “it is the bladder which seems to be the organ at the cause of it.” Suffering from violent bouts of abdominal pain, Napoleon III was medicated with chloral hydrate solution and advised to make regular visits to spa towns such as Plombières and Vichy to take the waters. But if these measures brought some relief, it was only to be temporary. His fourth visit to Vichy in the summer of 1864 was an unmitigated failure, and the autumn of 1864 saw his symptoms dramatically worsen. Having travelled to Châlons for military manoeuvres, the Emperor was in extreme pain, and, having submitted to an examination, was diagnosed with a bladder stone. With both the size of the calculus and the level of pain increasing, it is extraordinary that Napoleon III was able to keep up his imperial duties over the following five years, many of which were extremely detrimental to his health. Long periods on horseback (during military campaigns, parades, and manoeuvres) would have been excruciating: the British surgeon William Gull, who performed the two unsuccessful operations on 2 and 6 January 1873, is supposed to have exclaimed, “How could this man have sat for five hours on horseback during the battle of Sedan? He must have been in agony.” Is it too much to claim, as Georges Lecomte does in his Napoleon III: Sa maladie, son déclin, that this day, in the autumn of 1864, “marked the beginning of the end of the Empire”? Perhaps. But it does tell us that it was not only the Empire that was in extremis during the second half of the 1860s…
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week,
Peter Hicks and Francesca Whitlum-Cooper
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 729, 3-9 OCTOBER, 2014
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- OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced the prolongation of its international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena. All the details regarding the campaign as well as donation forms and advice for donating from outside France, can be found on napoleon. org.
You can still donate online to the project via the Friends of the Fondation de France in the US here.
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EVENTS
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
PRESS REVIEW
- Riccardo Benzoni, “Il culto di San Napoleone. Ricerche erudite nella Milano napoleonica”
JUST PUBLISHED
- AL-RAHMAN AL-JABARTI, ʿAbd and Shmuel Moreh (ed.), The Marvelous Chronicles: Biographies and Events (Jerusalem, 2014)
- GLOVER, Gareth, Waterloo: Myth and Reality (Barnsley, 2014)
WHAT'S ON
- Niagara 1812 Legacy Council Programme of Commemorative Events [14/04/2014 - 19/10/2014]
- Germany: The House of Hanover on the British throne 1714-1837 [17/05/2014 - 05/10/2014]
- Napoléon Who?! Prince, Prisoner, President, Emperor. Louis Napoléon (1808-1873) [10/06/2014 - 10/10/2014]
- Napoleon's Bivouac: Imperial Luxury in the Countryside [28/06/2014 - 15/10/2014]
- Napoleon's Exile, Napoleon's Travels [19/09/2014 - 19/10/2014]
- An Evening with Bernard Cornwell at Apsley House [21/10/2014 - 21/10/2014]
- Ghost Tours at the Royal Arsenal [30/10/2014 - 01/11/2014]
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Plot to kill Napoleon linked to British cabinet minister
- Hainsworth's throw pays homage to the Battle of Waterloo
- Queen Victoria's pants up for grabs
- This week in history: The Congress of Vienna convenes
- A Napoleon death mask on view in Baton Rouge
WAR OF 1812
- West Point Drill Team to help honor War of 1812 Army soldiers
- London's links to 1812 commemorated during Doors Open
- Battle of Lake Erie commemorated
- Battle of New Orleans cannon to get new carriage Tuesday
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
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