| |
| |
EDITORIAL, THIERRY LENTZ, DIRECTOR OF THE FONDATION NAPOLEON
For those of us reading about Napoleon in the language of Shakespeare, there's definitely a whiff of historiographic change in the air. Can we call it a revolution? I think so – the recent shift in English-language publishing on the Napoleonic era has been profound.
We felt it first with the work of Alan Forrest (many of whose titles have been translated into French), the tireless activity of Alexander Mikaberidze, and the publications of Michael Broers (who won the Fondation's prize for a book in a language other than French in 2006 and who is about to publish two volumes of a remarkable Napoleon). We knew we were definitely onto something when the next wave of publications hit, such as Munro Price's Napoleon: The End of Glory which studies the first fall of the Empire in 1814, and Roger Knight's highly detailed Britain against Napoleon. And most recently, we have seen it in Andrew Roberts' Napoleon the Great.
This most recent publication is a major milestone, in the quality of its research, its presentation, and its writing, and in the figure of its author, too: Roberts is one of the most popular historians in Britain and the Anglophone world. He is known for his extensive work on contemporary history, a speciality he had already expanded on with his study of Waterloo, in which he relativised the strictly British version of the battle. Napoleon the Great is proving a great hit, receiving a great quantity of media coverage (hear Roberts discussing the book on BBC Radio 4, for example – link below!). Like his predecessors, but with the force and style that have earned him his reputation, Roberts authoritatively redraws the portrait of the emperor, so often scorned by his British and American colleagues. He sweeps aside the black legend, but does not do so unquestioningly. He re-examines, re-contextualises, in short revitalises the biography of Napoleon. I'll add that Roberts considers the historiographic event “of the century” to be the publication of Napoleon's Correspondance Générale by your very own Fondation Napoléon… which obviously gives us a little bias!
Thierry Lentz
Director of the Fondation Napoléon
NB: Since we're talking about English bibliographies, I would like to take to a moment to acknowledge the publication of Castelreagh: Enlightenment, War and Tyranny, by John Bew, lecturer at King's College, London. Set to be a classic, this is the most complete biography to be published for a long time.
DONATIONS FOR ST HELENA FINISH AT THE END OF THE YEAR!
Donations can be made to the International Appeal to Save Napoleon I's Residence on St Helena until the end of this year. That's just over two months left to join the almost 2,000 donors who have already given. Make a donation and a difference.
ERRATUM > NAPOLEON'S MILITARY CARRIAGE
In last week's editorial we erroneously noted that Napoleon's extraordinary military carriage was captured by the British. It was in fact taken by Prussian forces at Waterloo, but was exhibited in England from 1816 until it was destroyed by fire in 1925. Apologies!
|
|
|
| |
OBJECT OF THE MONTH > NAPOLEON'S ENGLISH LESSONS
Napoleon's arrival on St Helena in October 1815 heralded an exile that was not only geographic, but also linguistic. These eight pages of writing, covered in the impatient scribbles of a man determined to learn the language of his captors, are some of the most evocative documents we have from Napoleon's time in exile. Read more about these sheets here, and in Peter Hicks's essay about Napoleon's English lessons.
|
|
|
| |
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE > NEW ISSUE PUBLISHED
We're very pleased to announce the publication of the latest issue of Napoleonica.La Revue. Inside you'll find Peter Hicks's editorial on sources and archives; Charles-Éloi Vial's article on a rulebook for the imperial household (résumé in English), Chantal Prévot's inquiry into Eugénie Renique (résumé in English), and a review by Jean-Marc Lafon. We hope you enjoy this latest issue - and remember that you can always access all our previous issues for free online.
|
|
|
| |
ON THE RADIO > NAPOLEON ON “START THE WEEK”
This week, "Start the Week" on BBC Radio 4 is dedicated to Napoleon. Andrew Roberts examines the man in his new biography, Jenny Uglow explores living in Britain through Napoleon's Wars (1793-1815), Sudhir Hazareesingh looks at his legend, while musicologist Gavin Plumley focuses on Schubert in Vienna in the aftermath of Napoleon. Listen to this fascinating programme here - and don't miss "From Our Own Correspondent" on BBC Radio 4 this weekend, which is also on a Napoleonic theme... (external links)
|
|
|
| |
27 OCTOBER 1806 > NAPOLEON'S ENTRY INTO BERLIN
It's 208 years this October since Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph, following his great successes at the Battles of Iena and Austerstädt. Why not remind yourself of this momentous event with our Mini-Dossier? In keeping with this week's audio-themed newsletter, Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, is currently presenting Germany: Memories of a Nation (external link) on BBC Radio 4 – 600 years of history using objects, art, landmarks and literature – and his first episode mentions Napoleon at the Brandenburg Gate!
|
|
|
| |
HISTORY OUT LOUD > TALKING STATUES
Every statue tells a story, and Sing London have taken that very literally. They have commissioned some of the UK's most celebrated writers and actors to animate 35 public statues across London and Manchester. Watch a video about the statues, or why not check some out yourself using the maps drawn up by the Talking Statues project. Which statues would you give a voice to, if you had a chance?
200 YEARS AGO > THE ALLIED MONARCHS TRAVEL TO BUDAPEST
Tsar Alexander, Emperor Francis, King Frederick-William, and Archduke Joseph travelled to Budapest on 24 October, 1814 and remained there until the end of the month. Emperor Francis went as the King of Hungary, but a certain closeness between the Hungarian people and the Russian tsar was evident notably because of their shared culture but also because of desires for self-expression. The Magyars were well aware of their origins in the Urals and their orthodox religion which they shared with Russia, but they also felt a growing desire for emancipation from, or at least recognition by, the Austrian power, now that the Turkish threat had dissipated. According to Baron de Méneval, this closeness “suggested that the ambitious policy of the Russian government could one day become dangerous for Austria.” The Tsar, who had donned a Hungarian uniform for the occasion, was a sensation on this trip (which included a tribute to his late sister, wife of the Hungarian archduke). The popularity of the Tsar and the Russians was widespread amongst the prominent officers of the countries under Austria's control: Radetzky, who was of Czech origin, greeted with nostalgia during this voyage the occasions on which he had worked with the Russian army against Napoleon. With this enormous popularity, the Russian emperor was almost the exact opposite of the Austrian Emperor, even in the minds of the most loyal minorities under Austrian control…
150 YEARS AGO > THE TREATY OF VIENNA AND THE END OF THE SECOND SCHLESWIG WAR
On 30 October, 1864, the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Kingdom of Denmark signed the Treaty of Vienna – an agreement that put an end to the Second Schleswig War by ceding three Danish duchies to Prussia and Austria. The First Schleswig War had been fought between 1848 and 1851 between the same opponents over the same areas of land. At the southern end of the Danish peninsula, the duchies of Schleswig, Saxe-Lauenburg, and Holstein were majority German: proponents of German unification wanted to include them in the German Confederation, while Denmark sought to keep them within its own kingdom. Although the First Schleswig War ended in Danish victory, tensions soon erupted again. Prussian and Austrian troops crossed into Schleswig on 1 February, 1864, and fighting lasted until 1 August, 1864, when a preliminary peace was signed. The Vienna Treaty (which you can read online here) of 30 October finalized the terms of the peace, giving Prussia administrative control of Schleswig and Saxe-Lauenburg, and Austria control of Holstein. Although little known today, the Schleswig Wars had both their roots and their conclusions in Napoleonic history. The German Confederation, a group of 39 German-speaking states in Central Europe, was created at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to act as a buffer between Prussia and Austria (it grew out of the Confederation of the Rhine, which Napoleon had founded in 1806 as a means of strengthening his control in the region). And the 1864 Treaty of Vienna would pave the way for Prussian dominance in Central Europe. In 1866, Bismarck's desire for supremacy led Prussia to turn against its former ally, Austria – in spite of the protection the Confederation afforded it: the Battle of Sadowa on 3 July, 1866 permanently undermined the Austrian Empire, with Prussia then turning its aspirations to the west, its dominance reaching its peak in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The geopolitical wranglings around the “Schleswig-Holstein Question” were notoriously complex, with British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston allegedly declaring, “Only three people have ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein business – the Prince Consort, who is dead – a German professor, who has gone mad – and I, who have forgotten all about it.”
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week,
Peter Hicks and Francesca Whitlum-Cooper
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 732, 24-30 OCTOBER, 2014
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation?
© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced that the international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena will accept donations until 31 December, 2014. 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.
ALWAYS AVAILABLE
Problems with a link in this letter?
- Check the homepage on: http://www.napoleon.org/en/home.asp
- View back numbers of the bulletin: http://www.napoleon.org/en/space/information_bulletin/archive_lettre.asp - Contact us: information@napoleon.org
Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter!
napoleon. org - related content:
EVENTS
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
JUST PUBLISHED
- PAURA, Roberto, La strada per Waterloo. Declino e caduta dell''Impero napoleonico [The Road to Waterloo. Decline and fall of Napoleonic Empire] (Bologna, 2014)
- SCOTT LEWIS, Diane, A Savage Exile: Vampires with Napoleon on St. Helena (2014)
PRESS REVIEW
- Hugh Schofield, “Scandalous tales from the British embassy in Paris”
WHAT'S ON
- Coaching the Congress Along - Exhibition at the Carriage Museum, Vienna [18/09/2014 - 09/06/2015]
- Ghost Tours at the Royal Arsenal [30/10/2014 - 01/11/2014]
- The Friends of the Royal Engineers Museum Meeting [04/11/2014 - 04/11/2014]
- Napoleonic Historical Society conference in New Orleans [14/11/2014 - 16/11/2014]
- The Shorncliffe Lectures [15/11/2014 - 15/11/2014]
- Talk by Andrew Roberts in Pittsburgh [17/11/2014 - 17/11/2014]
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Royal Collection at Windsor Castle to mark 200th anniversary of Battle of Waterloo next year
- Five “promo clips” for the bicentenary of Waterloo
- Remembering Napoleon in the South Atlantic
- 209th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar saluted by today's Navy in Portsmouth
WAR OF 1812
- U.S. sabre from War of 1812 returned by the British
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The library is open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 1pm to 6pm and on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 3pm. The library is closed on Wednesdays.
Online database catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
NAPOLEONICA LES ARCHIVES
Site of digitised Napoleonic archival material:
The working papers or 'imprimés' of the Napoleonic Conseil d'Etat, the correspondence of Vivant Denon, etc.
http://www.napoleonica.org
Contact: napoleonica@napoleon.org
NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
International peer-review interdisciplinary e-review on the history of the two Empires, bilingual French-English, 3 issues per year, free access.
Read the review on Cairn.info
Contact: napoleonicalarevue@napoleon.org
ACCOUNT DETAILS
To change your email address, unsubscribe, and sign up for the French information bulletin.
|
|
