The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #001 – An Introduction to Napoleon Bonaparte
Posted on 06. Feb, 2006 by cameron in Napoleon store, Podcast
Napoleon 101 #001 (mp3 – 24Mb – 68 mins)
An Introduction to The Napoleon 101 Podcast from Cameron Reilly on Vimeo.
Welcome to the first episode of Napoleon 101! David and I are very excited about creating this show and the rest of the series.
If you are new to the show, and want to know the background to the series, please read this.
For this first episode, we thought we’d start by giving you a bit of a taste-tester. Before we get deep into the nitty-gritty of his life and career, we’ll take you on a quick journey of what makes Napoleon such an interesting topic for us. For example, we cover:
- How and when did we first get interested in Napoleon?
- What is it about Napoleon that fascinates us?
- The first things everyone wants to know:
- Was he really short?
- Why did he stick his hand inside his jacket?
- Did he really say “Not tonight, Josephine”?
- Was he poisoned or not?
- Top 5 things everyone should know about Napoleon
- He was Corsican
- He rarely, if ever, broke a peace treaty
- He was a workaholic who hardly slept
- He was a genius with a great eye for detail
- The Code Napoleon
- Our favourite Napoleonic event/story/anecdote/myth
- The return from Elba
- The Battle of Austerlitz
If you are new to Napoleon, then we hope this show will give you a taste to learn more. If you are already an experienced hand, then we hope you will enjoy hearing a couple of Napoleon geeks tell the story that you are already familiar with.
If you like the show, please subscribe to our RSS feed, and if you don’t know what that means, then read this. And, of course, if you like the show, please leave us some comments and tell us! While we do have a semi-structured schedule for the show, we would be happy to do a few Q and A shows to answer your specific questions!
Would you like to share Napoleon with someone? Would you like to have a handy backup of the series in case of hard drive failure? Are you new to the series and don’t want to go to the hassle of downloading the old episodes one at a time?
Well now you can do ALL of those things with the introduction of NAPOLEON 101 on DVD!
This first DVD contains our first ten episodes and spans Napoleon’s early life up to the Battle of Marengo. Click on the link below to be taken to our store on Lulu.com!
I am Napoleon’s #1 fan! I am 7. I am looking forward to future podcasts. This is very interesting. You should watch my review of “Essential Visual History of the World” for the Storytubes contest. (I had to cut it down to only 2 minutes, though.) here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbRrdbxrTzU
if you like it you can vote for me May 26-June 1 at this site:
http://www.storytubes.info/
If I win I get to give $1000 worth of books to my library. Maybe then other kids can learn about the REAL Napoleon.
I LOVE THIS PODCAST’s.
You guy’s are awesome. I am buying all your books.
Thanks for a very interesting show. Like others, I recently got an Iphone and found your podcast. As a history major many years ago, I always enjoy any history, but was weak on Napoleon. However, I always had an interest, but never the time, in him because a co-worker years ago insisted that I was a relative of Marshal Ney, as that is my maiden name. To the best of my knowledge, I know that is not the case, but it was nice to daydream. I am up to episode 20, and am slowly catching up. You have reinvigorated my interest in history and I am schlepping back and forth to the library now for books (have no room for any more in my bookcases). Also will be listening to the biography show when caught up with Napoleon. Thanks again for your compassion for this subject.
Writing from Miami, Florida.
Gentlemen,
Thanks for a great show!
I have just found the podcast and am eagerly devouring every episode. I like the way that your passion shines through when you get side tracked this is the stuff that brings history to life!
As I am only up to episode 11, I am a little late catching on so I hope my comments dont seem too dated… then again this is a history podcast after all.
Keep up the brilliant work.
By the way, have I missed the Napoleon get together in Australia that was to be held this summer?
If so, is there a site that has a bit of what I missed?
Brian
Welcome everybody, thanks for tuning in!
Brian – don’t know about the Napoleon event in Australia, I didn’t hear much about it.
Robert – I’ll ask David what he knows about the affects on the War of 1812. And great cartoons! Obviously some of them are ‘in’ jokes, they went over my head.
Cameron,
I think it was mentioned on episode 11 or so
Brian
This is just an idea for David’s books. I listen to a fair number of podcasts like TWiT and have now come to love audible audio books. As I prefer to listen to books instead of reading now I actually looked on audible today to see if I could purchase any books by David.
Seeing as your audience is obviously a little tech savy having products like putting David’s books on audio might be a big seller – I would sure be one of the first to purchase an audio copy. (From Audible they are DRM protected too)
Just an idea.
I totally agree with Blafin, It would be an absolute killer to get David’s books on audio.
And it is not like he hasn’t got the experience it takes
I am sure it would boost the sales at least 50%…I bet (Seen up against former online sales experience and the podiobook success).
It would be a great resource for my research on the graphic novels I am producing on Napoleon and Europe in his time.
POS
I have a collection of capo-de-monte ceramic napoleon soldiers they are 12″ tall and beutifully colored. they have the capo-de-monte logo on each plus numbers believed to be the artist who made them or the painters. they are rare as I have not been able to trace them. I collected them from a small store in Los Angelels from 1968 to 1971 was was only able to purchase 1 or 2 at a time. I have only come across them twicle in all that time. Once in a french restaurant in the french quarter in Nlew Orleans and watching Bob Barker being interviewed in his home in Los Angeles he had a collection in his library.
I would like to sell them any ideas???
Wow. Finally someone else has one or a bunch of these soldiers. I inherited the few my father collected in the fifties. I would also like to find a home for them. The painting detail is far above anything I’ve seen online. Somewhere there’s a collector who’s missing a ‘foot soldier’ or ‘guardsman’… I’ll let you know if I come across anything. Best of luck.
Hi Cameron, hi David!
I’ve started to listen to the show just a few weeks ago, and I really enjoy it! It’s great. The good thing is that now I don’t have to wait for several weeks for the next show, but can listen to them almost in a row, if time permits. It’s funny that in the first episode you said something about doing 12 episodes, knowing that now you’ve done almost 50
In one show you mentiond you’d like to know a bit about your audience: I’m a PhD student in atomic physics at the university of Bonn, Germany. So a natural scientist by education and profession, I’m interested in history as well. In addition, I like to improve my English listening comprehension skills by subcribing to podcasts in English. So your podcast is a perfect combination
Especially because it’s very informative and at the same time entertaining. I especially like that you don’t just read date after data, but explain the background, the motivation for certain actions and so on.
I’ve recently been listening to the Biography show and love it. Based on that i decided to give Napoleon 101 a try too. Unfortunately show one can not be downloaded. I’ve tried through iTunes and through the site. I tried streaming and downloading. My guess is it was one of those broken links i read about due to the server crash so I thought you should know. I can’t wait to give it a listen when it is fixed.
Thanks for letting me know Eric! There was a slight typo in the filename. Should work now for you! Please let me know if you have any further problems!
Hey Guys,
I loved the podcast, in particular the Russian campaign. I at times thought that maybe there was too much love for napoleon, but that is understandable!
In addition, it was a great idea to get more podcasts on other characters of the time, i would love one on the Polish guy, Prince something?
For now i don’t have access to the internet as living in poverty in China, but as soon as i get back to Scotland downloading more will be one of the first things i do.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to make such a splendid podcast. David’s articles and Cameron’s long winded but always brilliant story-telling!
Cheers,
Stew
Took the whole of the Podcast on holiday with me, i was Disappointed, this podcast is nothing more than a Napoleon Love Fest, with no objectivity.
Apparently Napoleon went on his jaunt round Europe freeing peasants and making them Citizens, but not mentioning that he looted their central banks of cash and Gold and removed their Art treasures and left these new Citizens as, erm, peasants really.
The fact is Europe got rid of the little corporal not because he was the best thing that ever happened to them, all the countries he annexed see history differently to this podcast, it is estimated that civilian death tolls vary from 750,000 to 3 million.
Paul,
I don’t mind anyone having a different view on Napoleon but did you actually listen to the podcasts? If you had, you would know that he didn’t go on a “jaunt around Europe” but was ACTUALLY doing was fighting DEFENSIVE wars. We go to lengths during the series to explain that France didn’t start wars or break peace treaties (with the exception of Portugal). They were attacked by the other countries for having the temerity to oust their king.
What you call “looting” was actually reparations for military aggression, something acceptable under international law, even today.
We don’t dispute the death toll of the wars during the period but I dare you to find a way to blame the wars on Napoleon. Can you show me a case where he was the one to start the war (except Portugal which we agree on the podcast was unacceptable)?
The truth is that Napoleon inherited the wars between France and the other European countries. They were happening before he was in power. He fought France’s enemies, signed peace treaties which they then broke, again and again, and forced France back into war.
If you have different fact, present them.
cheers
Cameron
I was listening to a few previous episodes and I personally think it’s a great idea!!
To begin on some slight criticism, as I am sure you are aplenty used to, I must argue that back in episode 16 or 17 you argue for the king of Prussia’s innocence, which I must disagree with, because I think he was mad even to think of fighting Napoleon let alone doing it, of all the allies, he was the most foolish.
I have been an avid listener for the last few weeks/months or so and I must congratulate you on your pro-Bonapartist arguments, which I must say I agree with.
Speaking of Napoleon, I have decided to do a Napoleonic era scrapbook as an introduction to Grade Nine Social Studies, which is focused around Napoleon!
I’ll be waiting for more podcasts quite eagerly so please, satisfy my taste for Napoleon even more!
Another criticism, if I may mention it, is your, in my opinion, slightly unfair treatment of Wellesley, who was not a Napoleon but certainly not a King of Prussia either. Sir Arthur, you must remember, was weighed down by incompetent soldiers as Napoleon was, not the least being the flamboyant Prince of Orange and the Dutch-Belgian troops who were about as trained as a pack of foot soldiers from the pre-Adolphus era!!
Being highly Bonapartist myself, I must agree on your justification of Napoleon’s actions-It was the heads of Europe trying to eliminate him rather than him trying to eliminate them!!
I could go on for ages, but as yet I shall wait for a response…
I’d just like to thank both Cameron & David for this fantastic podcast. I have only recently found the podcast but from the few I’ve heard, I think they are brilliant. I really enjoy the informal, realaxed manner of the podcasts. I look forward to listening to the rest of the episodes.
Kevin in Cavan, Ireland.