By the way, I was prompted to write this by a nice email I just got out of the blue from a guy at Apple telling me he’s a big fan of the new show! When a guy working on iTunes tells you he likes you show, it’s got to count for something!

Napoleon’s troops in Egypt buy shawls and start a fashion craze.

In Europe the shawls get made on automated, perforated-paper control looms.

This gives an American engineer Herman Hollerith the idea to automate calculation using punch cards.

Which get used to control ENIAC, the first electronic computer!

Thanks for the link Arni, fascinating!

And it isn’t the one we were expecting to launch first.

Introducing - The Biography Show.

The idea behind The Biography Show is to examine the lives of some of history’s most influential people. We kick off the series with a 90 minute talk about the life of Alexander III of Macedon, otherwise known as Alexander “The Great”.

We still intend on doing a Napoleon-type series on Caesar sometime this year but we’re both waiting for our schedules to clear up a little.

The reason it happened (I think) is that the iTunes feed on the main Napoleon page points to our meta-feed. It will suck down EVERYTHING.

If you want only the audio versions of the show, unsubscribe from the show in iTunes and use THIS AUDIO ONLY FEED.

If you want only the video, get THIS VIDEO ONLY FEED.

If you want it all, GET THE BIG DADDY FEED.

It’s a very pro-Napoleon book written, I suspect, for high school kids a mere 33 years after Napoleon’s death. Each chapter covers one of his battles and is called “Campfires” because it imagines the stories being told around the bivouacs after the battle. As it is out of copyright, I’m tempted to read each chapter on a podcast designed for kids.

You can read the entire text online thanks to Google Books.

When I originally had the idea to start a podcast about Napoleon, I thought about doing it myself but knew that my knowledge was sorely inadequate. When I started looking for a co-host, I had no idea I would ever be so lucky as to find someone like David willing to do the show. I thought I should share with you how that came about.

On my other podcast, G’Day World, I had earlier interviewed New York-based author Staton Rabin about her book “Betsy and the Emperor” (listen to the interview). When I finally was toying with the idea of the Napoleon show, I thought I’d try to get an author involved in each episode. I sent Staton an email asking if she would be interested in doing an episode on St Helena. She said she didn’t really consider herself an expert on the subject either, but knew a few historians and would be happy to introduce me. Her introductions didn’t need to go further than David. She introduced us via email and he said yes and I was very excited.

In all honesty, when we started the show, I never thought it would find much of an audience, I mean, who wants to listen to a show about a guy who has been dead for 200 years?? I just thought it would be awesome to have an excuse to talk to David once a month about one of my favourite subjects. And here we are, almost two years and 34 episodes later, getting close to wrapping up this series but planning lots of other projects together.
I am very fortunate to consider him a colleague and a friend and so, on behalf of myself, my family (David has had light saber duels with my kids via webcam), and you, his 30,000 closest friends, I’d like to say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIRE!

As our regular listeners know, for some time now David and I have been thinking about doing a new podcast series in addition to the current Napoleon 101 series. One of the challenges we have with producing a new series, however, is time. Although David has recently retired from full-time teaching, we are both busy, David with his writing and research and Cameron with running The Podcast Network.

It looks like the current series might run for another 12 or 13 episodes (40 seems like a nice round number) which, at one episode a month, could take us another year. We continually get requests from people to record more frequently or to start the new series sooner. And there might be a way that we could justify it. We’re calling it “The Premium Edition”.

This “Premium Edition” will not in any way affect the regular series. Think of it as additional “premium” content. We thought we should check with you, our loyal and most wonderful listeners, about what you would like to see/hear from us before we launch ourselves into it. If you wouldn’t mind taking a few minutes to complete this VERY BRIEF (only 5 questions, we promise!) survey, we would really appreciate it. It will help us decide what path we should take.

Click Here to take survey

I know what you’re thinking: What else can I do to help support my friends at the Napoleon 101 Podcast?

This year for the first time ever we’re going to go for an official Podcast Award from PodcastAwards.com.

Will you help?

1) Just click the link to go to www.podcastawards.com.

2) Click on the small blue text in the top box that says “Click here to nominate.”

3) When there, you can enter us in People’s Choice and one other category. But since we probably will never win the People’s Choice, don’t bother with that one.

Just nominate us in the Education category. Don’t nominate us for any other category - if you nominate us for more than one category (with the exception of “People’s Choice,”) neither vote counts!

You have to fill out our show’s name and our URL like this:

Napoleon 101

http://napoleon.thepodcastnetwork.com

4) Then, you have to go to the bottom of the page and enter your name, your email, and whether you’re a podcaster, listener or both.

5) Hit “Submit” and you’re done!

You can only nominate us once, so when you’ve taken care of this, you’re done!

Will you take three minutes and help us out? We’d really appreciate it.

And if you have other podcasts you enjoy, be sure to nominate them, too. Especially shows on The Podcast Network. Spread the love. (Just not in the “Education” category, OK?)

Thank you, thank you, thank you. It would mean a lot to us to be nominated.

By the way, we apologize for the delay in episodes - David is currently in Israel. But we plan to have a new episode with a very special guest out early June!

“Maybe I missed this aspect of Napoleon already mentioned in one of your episode, but if you didn’t, could talk a little bit about that distinct hat Napoleon is often shown with on pictures of him. Maybe it is a modern invention and has nothing to do with the historical figure.”

Actually, Pascal, the kind of hat Napoleon wore was fairly common with European and American military and naval officers in the 18th and 19th century and it’s called a bicorne or bicorn. It was actually based on the tricorne which was popular in the 17th century. Much like the famous “hand inside jacket” pose, Napoleon wasn’t unique, it’s just that his celebrity status, then and now, makes most of us associate him with such images.

Here’s a photo of one of Napoleon’s actual hats that he wore in 1799, the year he became a Consul.

You can read more about the bicorn’s history here. Thanks for the question Pascal!

Elba island, 1814. Martino is a young teacher, idealist and strongly anti-Napoleonic, in love with the beautiful and noble Baroness Emily. The young man finds himself serving as librarian to the Great Emperor in exile whom he deeply hates yet soon begins recording Napoleon’s memoirs, getting to know and learning to value the man behind the myth. Among seductions and affairs, expectations and fears, he will craft a precise portrait that never less will not manage to hide a final, inevitable, disappointment.

Here’s a link to the trailer (in Italian).

The story of how I got the book is almost as magnificent as the stories contained within. I bought it on eBay about 10 months ago from a seller in Wisconsin and several times he sent it to me and several times it never made it hear, always getting rejected by Australia Post for one reason or another and getting returned to sender! I had given up ever seeing it and so was nicely surprised when it arrived today.

I wanted to share with you Stoddard’s magnificent introduction to the book, written a mere 73 years after Napoleon’s death, as it poetically describes the story of Napoleon and, in doing so, reflects some of the debate we’ve had in the comments section lately, demonstrating that debate over Napoleon is certainly not a recent phenomenon.
—————–

NAPOLEON’S history naturally adapts itself to illustration. His whole career was pictorial. His meteoric course revealed itself in scene, each of which seemed more brilliant than its predecessor.

The pictures of his progress from Corsica to the Throne and from the Throne to St. Helena produce a panorama unequalled in the annals of the world. The life of Napoleon was a tragedy which had the whole of Europe for a stage, Napoleon for the star, kings, queens and warriors for subordinate actors, and for an audience a dazzled world. Act after act of this absorbing drama was performed, yet still humanity looked on in wonder. The interest never waned. No one could possibly divine the end. What seemed at one time an incomparable climax, became the next day by comparison a common-place event; as a bright star of dawn is lost in the refulgence of the rising sun. Even when the tragedy drew near its end, and the colossal background of the stage was black with gloom, Napoleon’s dramatic deeds,—such as his duel with united Europe, his farewell to the Imperial Guard at  Fontainebleau, his marvelous return from Elba,—the stroke of Destiny at Waterloo, and the wild death-scene on the tempest-beaten rock of St. Helena,—lit up the Heavens with a supernatural brilliancy, much as we see a landscape outlined by successive gleams of lightning on an inky sky.
It would be natural therefore to suppose that Bonaparte’s would be the best known figure in the long procession of humanity. Far from it. The world is not agreed about his character. No person in history, not even Mary Queen of Scots, has been the object of such bitter controversy. Emerson has well said,—” To be great is to be misunderstood.” Even the founders of the world’s religions, though deified by their followers, are execrated by believers in all other faiths. To Moslems Jesus is no more the Son of God, than Mahomet seems His prophet to most Christians.

Even today with the assistance of the press and telegraph, prominent statesmen are so lauded by their partisans and vilified by their opponents, that it is difficult to ascertain the truth about them. Gladstone, for instance, is by millions called the “Grand old Man,” By other millions lie is looked upon as a consummate by hypocrite and fraud, The greater the man, the larger is the multitude of his inferiors. The higher his position, the vaster is the sea of upturned faces raised towards his in admiration or in envy. In the case of Napoleon there were special causes why he should have been maligned, and why in death, as in life, his foes have been more numerous than his friends.

Most English writers have been naturally against him. Even in France, in the repeated changes of that nation’s government, there have been times when accusations against Bonaparte were the best passports to reward and fame. Especially since the Franco-Prussian war, a sense of national disgrace has made some French Republicans forget the glory of Napoleon the Great in the disasters of “Napoleon the Little.” Yet there never has been an epoch since his death when the career of the great Corsican excited so much interest as now. IT WILL NOT DIE OUT. The theme is as colossal as his genius, as many sided as his empire, as brilliant as his victories. The literature which treats of him is constantly increasing. New memoirs every year call forth fresh statements and critiques by shedding light upon obscure points in his history, It is Napoleon, THE MAN, who is now being specially portrayed. The result completely demolishes the theory that he was a monster of selfishness, devoid of human sympathies.

Viewed in his relations to his mother, his brothers and sisters, his generals, soldiers and the friends of even his earliest years, the careful sifting of unimpeachable testimony proves that Napoleon was naturally magnanimous, tender-hearted, sympathetic and indulgent to a fault. In fact concessions to his greedy and insatiate brothers and sisters contributed to his downfall. The average estimate of Napoleon, formed partly from hearsay and partly I from a limited reading of his history, is that his measureless ambition deluged Europe with a sea of blood, and that he coldly pushed aside a wife whom he no longer loved to wed a daughter of the Hapsburgs. But a study of the conditions of Europe at that time explains the causes of almost all the Napoleonic wars, as well as of the divorce of Josephine. Before the young Napoleon had ever drawn his sword, all Europe was in arms against Re Republican France. The allied kings, in terror lest their thrones should fall, as that of Louis 16th had done, combined to crush out that audacious spirit of Democracy. Napoleon, as the embodiment of that spirit, vanquished them repeatedly; but they invariably rose again, and almost every year a fresh coalition of three or four nations sent armies to hurl Bonaparte from the throne and place again the hated Bourbons there. That these repeated wars led I lie successful Emperor to imprudences and faults, is but to say that he was human. But all his deeds should be examined in the broad clear light of contemporaneous history; one side of Europe being just as carefully surveyed as the other.

As for the divorce, which forms the second popular charge against Napoleon ,—it is difficult to imagine stronger reasons for such a political step than were urged upon him by all the leading statesmen of France, as well as by his family. Absolute master of a colossal empire, and knowing from experience tile chaos from which he had just brought the French nation to a position of glory and stability, it was a question of tremendous importance who was to govern it after his death. His brothers were incompetent. His generals, like those of Alexander, would inevitably quarrel and plunge the nation into civil war. To found a settled dynasty and thus create a legitimate successor seemed an absolute necessity. Moreover, by marrying into one of the reigning families of Europe, it was supposed that the French Emperor would gain at least one ally, and put an end to the powerful coalitions continually formed against him It is a proof of Napoleon’s natural tenderness of heart that, steadily resisting arguments and appeals, he struggled for years against a separation from the only woman he ever really loved.
Refusing to consider the natural longing of a father’s heart to have a son to follow him in a career of glory, he chose at first his brother’s child to be his political heir, and only after the death of that little prince did he allow the question of divorce to be re-opened. Step by step, despite fierce opposition, he had raised Josephine with him even to the Imperial throne, and when they both accepted the necessity of the sacrifice required, Napoleon’s treatment of her, (not merely in generosity, but in delicacy) is unsurpassed in any such act in either public or private history.

Nothing is more impressive, as we contemplate Napoleon, than the PERMANENCY OF HIS GREATNESS. Year after year accusers rise, assail his memory, and pass away; but still the Vendome. column rises over Paris, and still its plates of bronze portray in beautiful relief his victories o’er united nations. A maddened populace pulls down that noble shaft and the majestic statue breaks, in pieces in its fall, but it inevitably rises once again, and still the Emperor looks down upon the city which he made the political centre of the world. His enemies call him a usurper; but who was ever so enthusiastically and unanimously chosen by the people for their ruler, as was Napoleon to be Consul of France for life? Others delight in branding him as a parvenu; but where among the sovereigns of the past or present can we discover one, whose coronation has been solemnized by the Pope himself, not at the Vatican, but in a foreign capital hundreds of miles away, whither the venerable Pontiff came, (an act unparalleled in history), to place the crown upon Napoleon’s brow! The men who fought against him, Schwarzenberg, Blucher, and even Wellington, sleep in comparatively unknown graves. But Bonaparte, though buried on a lonely, isolated rock; thousands of miles from Europe, no longer slumbers there. His ashes are brought back to France, and with a solemn pageantry and enthusiasm unequalled in all history are laid beside the Seine and in the midst of the French people he so dearly loved. Critics may come and go, but they can never change the solemn fact that Napoleon Bonaparte reposes in the heart of the nation of which he was the Consul and the Emperor, and in the most magnificent sepulcher on earth.

The memory of Napoleon resembles a gigantic cliff emerging from the sea of Time. The waves of calumny may break against it; the lightning’s bolt of hatred may descend upon its brow; the cutting winds of sarcasm and malice may attack its surface; the clouds of misunderstanding may at times conceal it, and even the disintegrating touch of Time may strive to mar its massiveness; but presently the waves are stilled, the tempest disappears, the mists all clear away, and lo! the cliff is there; serene and indestructible.

It is not, however, the purpose of this introduction to discuss Napoleon’s record in detail; nor is the object of this book a critical examination of his life and character. It is to present in a connected series some of the great events of his career, which shall by word and picture suggest a study of the complex life which lies behind them. They do not form an exhaustive narrative. For such a work not fifty volume nor a thousand illustrations would suffice. These pictures rather serve as milestones on a path of glory leading to the grave.

Nothing is more instructive than a study of this path which they commemorate. For twenty years the history of Bonaparte was the history of Europe; and even now, whatever route we take from Paris to the Pyramids, or from Madrid to Moscow, one name continually greets us, carved on the mountains trodden by his legions, reflected in the rivers where his shadow fell, and traced upon a hundred fields where it was whispered fondly by unnumbered lips, ere they were closed in death. It is the magic name —

NAPOLEON.

Here’s an excerpt from Jawad’s article:

Google, today, is the undisputed champion of the online world. Before long, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo! and eBay maneuvered to encapsulate Google’s ever-growing strength. Over two hundred years ago, Emperor Napoleon, the Google of his day, found himself in a similar situation. Russia, Prussia, Austria and Britain had decided to go to war. It takes more energy to take land than to hold it. Throughout history, defensive tactics have won more battles than the aggressors. After the first wave of siege, the aggressor loses the advantage of surprise attack and leaves himself exposed to a counter attack. The defender can clearly see his strategy and take protective action. Napoleon’s most celebrated victory, the battle of Austerlitz was a counter attack, defeating a larger army with a kill ratio of 15 to 1. A defensive position has become the perfect way to disguise an offensive maneuver, a counter attack. Google has repeatedly asserted that it is not interested in competing with other businesses; it is a web search business only. They have used this facade to make Microsoft’s concerns with the company seem paranoid; a clever move that worked. The fact remains that Google is a powerful secretive company, driven by smart people, and for a cause.

One of my objectives when I started the series was to promote the case FOR Napoleon, as I believe that the “history” of Napoleon that most of us were taught, especially if you were educated in “The Commonwealth”, was extremely biased towards the negative. It has been said that “history is written by the victor” and that was definitely true in Napoleon’s case. For many years after his downfall, except for a brief interlude during the Second Empire, it was nearly impossible to write positively about him even in France, let alone England or other European countries. If we are slightly biased FOR the man, all we are doing is balancing up the scales!

That said, we do try our best to examine, in the time that we have each episode, the case for and against. David is a very well respected Napoleonic historian and author and he takes this responsibility extremely seriously. I, on the other hand, am just an enthusiast who wants to better understand who Napoleon was. In every episode I try to make sure I get a chance to ask David about the various criticisms of Napoleon that have been put forward and David always gives his honest perspective on what really happened, based on the current historical documents available combined with a deep understanding of the time and circumstances Napoleon was operating under. It is a huge mistake to take 21st century morals and perspectives on democracy and individual rights and then suggest that Napoleon should or could have lived up to ALL of them in late 18th century France. It’s critical to understand the critical condition France was in after the Revolution and the challenges Napoleon faced by constantly having to fight off the other European powers who were determined, for various reasons, to see the Bourbons re-established on the French throne.
As David and I have pointed out time and time again, France was fighting these wars long BEFORE Napoleon ever came to power in France and although he signed lots of peace treaties in his time in power, he rarely, if ever, broke one. So although Napoleon may not have been totally innocent of fault, the blame for the “Napoleonic Wars” needs to be shouldered by the parties truly responsible.
My goal with this present series is to introduce people to Napoleonic history, not present you with a set of ready-made opinions for or against. Hopefully you will listen to this series and be inspired, as I know many of you already have been, to go out and buy a few books on the guy (especially those written by a certain J. David Markham). Then you will all, of course, make up your own mind about who he was and whether or not what he tried to do was positive or negative. Or perhaps a little bit of both.

Personally I doubt the veracity of the autopsy done at the time of his death and don’t think we’ll have a definitive answer until the French Government allow his corpse to be exhumed from Les Invalides for a modern autopsy.

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The basis for the Rothschild fortune was laid during the latter stages of the Napoleonic Wars. From 1813 to 1815, the Rothschild family was instrumental in the financing of the British war effort, handling the shipment of bullion to the Duke of Wellington’s army in Portugal and Spain, as well as arranging the payment of British financial subsidies to their Continental allies. Through the commissions earned on these transactions, the Rothschild fortune grew enormously.

In the early 19th century Rothschild set up a Europe-wide network of messengers and carrier pigeon stations, gathering information that could affect his investments. He soon garnered a reputation for being first with the news.

According to popular legend, when the Battle of Waterloo was being fought in June 1815, other speculators watched Rothschild’s stocks in an attempt to guess who would win. Shortly after the battle ended, and long before anyone else knew who was the victor, he began selling stocks. Everyone assumed this meant Napoleon had won and Europe was lost. Panic selling ensued. When prices crashed, Rothschild bought everything in sight and made a profit.

Unfortunately the article doesn’t mention our friend Staton Rabin, who wrote a book on the friendship which is being used as the source material for the other film mentioned in the article, in which I believe Al Pacino will be playing Napoleon. If you’re looking for an additional Napoleon-related podcast while you’re waiting for David and I to record episode #4, then check out the interview I did with Staton about 12 months ago.

So, in order to start the beginning, here’s a link to Napoleon’s house in Ajaccio.

If you have Google Earth installed, you can double-click on the above link and it will fly you to a location. If not, you will need to install Google Earth first (available at http://earth.google.com).

I’ve set up a page dedicated to Napoleonic site maps here.

Sir Anthony O’Reilly, that’s who.

Executive Chairman of Independent News and Media, Sir Tony has just written an excellent review of Adam Zamoyski’s “1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March On Moscow” for the NZ Herald.

I’m currently reading it as well and enjoying it very much. Zamoyski really drags you into the morass of egos, betrayal and determination which lead to Napoleon’s march into Russia and which, in turn, lead to one of the greatest tragedies in European history.

This podcast intends to provide two opinions on those questions while stepping you through the life of this very complex and divisive man.

Your hosts will be:

David Markham is the Executive Vice–President and Editor–in–Chief of the International Napoleonic Society and the Executive Vice–President of the Napoleonic Alliance. He has published articles in twenty journals and four websites worldwide and his work has appeared in five languages (English, French, Georgian, Italian, and Russian). He is the author of “NAPOLEON’S ROAD TO GLORY”, “NAPOLEON FOR DUMMIES” and several other important books on the subject.

Cameron Reilly is the Co-Founder and Director of The Podcast Network. He has been a student of Napoleonic history for 15 years.

“NAPOLEON 101″ is intended to be a structured podcast lasting 15 episodes, each covering a particular period of Napoleon’s life and career. At this stage, we intend those episodes to be:

1. Prologue - Why Napoleon?
2. Early life and military career
3. The “whiff of grapeshot”
4. The Italian campaign of 1796–97
5. The Egyptian expedition of 1798–99
6. The coup of 18 Brumaire
7. An interlude of peace
8. The Peninsular War and the War of the Fifth Coalition
9. Invasion of Russia
10. The War of the Sixth Coalition
11. Exile in Elba
12. Les Cent-Jours (The Hundred Days) and Waterloo
13. Exile in Saint Helena and death
14. Marriages and children and The Family
15. Epilogue - Napoleon’s Legacy

The first episode should be up mid-February!