TPN :: Napoleon 1O1

Photos from INS Montreal 2009

Cameron — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 06:33:14 +0000

Check out David’s photos from the recent INS!

Napoleon rides again

Cameron — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:14:22 +0000

From AFP:

French lawyer Franck Samson, dressed as Napoleon, takes part with some 1,200 history enthusiasts from 20 European countries in the reeanactment of the battle of Waterloo. On June 18, 1815, Napoleon led his 72,000-strong army into battle with 120,000 mostly British and Prussian soldiers on the gently rolling plateau of Waterloo.

More story here.

If anyone knows how to reach Monsieur Samson, please let me know, as I’d love to invite him onto the show.

A quick way to get to all of our show archives

Cameron — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:17:36 +0000

Just a reminder that if you’re looking for an easy way to listen to the entire Napoleon 101 archives - and you have iTunes installed - then go to the Napoleon 101 iTunes homepage. While you are there, feel free to review the show!

(Welcome everyone who is visiting for the first time from iTunes!)

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #53 - Alex Mikaberidze part 4

Cameron — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:25:30 +0000

We’re very lucky to have Alexander Mikaberidze back to discuss a few more important Russian generals and the crossing of the Berezina.

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!

Episode 52

The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution

Cameron — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:28:47 +0000

The National Bureau of Economic Research, America’s leading nonprofit economic research organization, has released a paper about the effects of Napoleon’s “invasions” into the other European countries. It sounds interesting:

—- Abstract —–

The French Revolution of 1789 had a momentous impact on neighboring countries. The French Revolutionary armies during the 1790s and later under Napoleon invaded and controlled large parts of Europe. Together with invasion came various radical institutional changes. French invasion removed the legal and economic barriers that had protected the nobility, clergy, guilds, and urban oligarchies and established the principle of equality before the law. The evidence suggests that areas that were occupied by the French and that underwent radical institutional reform experienced more rapid urbanization and economic growth, especially after 1850. There is no evidence of a negative effect of French invasion. Our interpretation is that the Revolution destroyed (the institutional underpinnings of) the power of oligarchies and elites opposed to economic change; combined with the arrival of new economic and industrial opportunities in the second half of the 19th century, this helped pave the way for future economic growth. The evidence does not provide any support for several other views, most notably, that evolved institutions are inherently superior to those ‘designed’; that institutions must be ‘appropriate’ and cannot be ‘transplanted’; and that the civil code and other French institutions have adverse economic effects.

It’s available for download for $5.

American Appointed Légion d’Honneur

Cameron — Sun, 17 May 2009 06:17:53 +0000

William Powers Jr., president of The University of Texas at Austin, was appointed to the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, the prestigious order created by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, for his work in establishing the French Judicial Visiting Fellowship program at the university.

(link)

Inside a First Empire Style Mansion

Cameron — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:53:47 +0000

Remember our recent guest Michael Kroger who told us about his Melbourne mansion decorated in 1st Empire style? Well he emailed us today to say he has put it up for sale and if you are quick you can see some amazing photos of the interior here. It is truly amazing and I’m sure it will make David sick to his stomach with jealousy. Speaking of David, I’d like to congratulate him and Barbara on their 26th wedding anniversary which I believe they are celebrating this Thursday! 26 years… wow. All the more amazing when you realize they are both only in their early 30s…..

Napoleon’s Fictional Romance Novel Published In English!

Cameron — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:35:50 +0000

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk

Now the man the world knows as emperor, war hero and bogeyman, the ruthlessly ambitious Little Corporal who rose from provincial obscurity in Corsica to become the terror or ruler of half the world, will be revealed in a surprising new guise: Napoleon the failed romantic novelist.

I’ve been waiting to read Clisson and Eugénie for 20 years! This is very exciting news! Click on the link above to read more!

Where To Buy A Napoleon Hat

Cameron — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:42:15 +0000

From the time I became obsessed with Napoleon I have wanted to own a Napoleonic-style bicorn. But I’ve never found a place that sells them - I mean, high quality ones, not the cheesy costume style.

In the comments section of an old post, Captain Flunky has pointed me to this site HatCrafters.com which seems to make a perfect replica (scroll down to the bottom of the page). The company is based in Philadelphia and their Web site is pretty old (Nicholas Stark - perhaps you can pay them a visit and see if they still exist!).

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #52 - Alex Mikaberidze on The Russian Generals

Cameron — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:21:10 +0000

Alexander Mikaberidze joins us again on this episode to share deep biographical details about the major Russian Generals around the war of 1812 - Kutusov, Bagration, Barclay de Tolly, Tolstoy - the men who defeated Napoleon with a highly unusual strategy.

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!

Episode 52

Buy The First Ten Episodes of Napoleon 101 on DVD

Cameron — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:00:21 +0000

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!

Join The TPN 500

Cameron — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:13:47 +0000

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast 51 - Alex Mikaberidze on The Burning of Moscow

Cameron — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:00:24 +0000

Our guest today is again the wonderful Alexander Mikaberidze. We continue the discussion from where we left off in Episode 50, talking about Napoleon’s entry into Moscow, the burning of Moscow, and the “strategic withdrawal”. Was the burning of Moscow deliberate strategy on behalf of the Russians? If they hadn’t burned it, would the outcome of the campaign have been different? Why did Napoleon stay so long in Moscow?

Alex is assistant professor of European history at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. He holds a degree in international law from Tbilisi State University (Republic of Georgia, 1999) and a Ph.D. in history from Florida State University (2003). After working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (1996-2000), he taught European and Middle Eastern history at Florida State and Mississippi State Universities and lectured on strategy and policy for the U.S. Naval War College. In addition to his articles on various Napoleonic-related topics, Dr. Mikaberidze has written and edited seven books, including The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon versus Kutuzov (2007), Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2007), The Russian Officer Corps in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815 (2004, winner of the 2005 Literary Prize of the International Napoleonic Society), The Czar’s General: The Memoirs of a Russian General in the Napoleonic Wars (2005). He has been awarded the International Napoleonic Society’s Legion of Merit Award for his contributions to the Napoleonic studies.

Finally - Julius Caesar

Cameron — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:15:50 +0000

David and I have FINALLY got our act together and started a podcast about Julius Caesar! This isn’t the LONG series, but it will probably be a few episodes. Check it out on the Biography Show.

The Artist-as-Napoleon

Cameron — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 08:22:52 +0000

In the comments section, Simon Abrahams writes:

Thought you might be interested in how the iconic portraits of Napoleon - by Ingres, David, Gros and others - almost all resemble the artist’s self-portrait. These are not portraits of Napoleon, as most scholars imagine, but portraits of the artist-as-Napoleon, as a few alert viewers at the time did recognize. Take a look at the comparisons on my website:
http://www.artscholar.org

They are really quite fascinating! I think there might be a whole episode of the podcast on the portraits, something we should do sometime. Thanks Simon!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast 50 - Guest Alex Mikaberidze on Napoleon and Alexander

Cameron — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:37:03 +0000

We made it to 50! w00t!

Thanks to everyone for supporting our little show over the last few years. It’s been an honour to create these shows for you. Can I ask a favour? Would you mind going to our iTunes page and rating the podcast? The more ratings we get, the more people find the show. Click here to open up our page in iTunes.

Our guest today is the wonderful Alexander Mikaberidze.

We Need Your Help

Cameron — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:40:33 +0000

Dear friends,

I’ve just been hit with a large hosting bill for TPN’s servers and bandwidth and unfortunately I don’t have the funds to cover it this month. So I have set up a special fund raising exercise via ChipIn which will run for this week. Out of TPN’s hundreds of thousands of listeners, I’m hoping a few hundred will be able to chip in $10 to help us stay on the air. Please click on the widget below if you’re willing to help out.

In other news…

I’ve been trying to get this DVD pack from Ajaccio finished and, while editing the video, I’ve made this “Introduction to Napoleon 101″ clip that David and I shot at his house late last year. I hope you will enjoy this chance of seeing us chat briefly and that the glimpse you’ll get of David’s house and Napoleonic collection will entice you to purchase the DVD when it’s available. By the way, David and I have a recording sessions scheduled for this week!

An Introduction to The Napoleon 101 Podcast from Cameron Reilly on Vimeo.

Finally…

I’ve set up a new Napoleon 101 page over at Facebook. I hope most of you will sign up for it and use it to continue the terrific conversation we’ve started here about Napoleon and other great people from history. Click here to join!

President Markham Joins Twitter!

Cameron — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:02:51 +0000

I’m not sure if it’s because of all the hype that Twitter has been getting in the US media lately, or if it’s because he’s just a hipster, but my friend J. David Markham has set up a Twitter account. Keep track of the daily life of the President! (… of the International Napoleonic Society…).

Napoleon on Twitter

Cameron — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:31:49 +0000

If you’re using Twitter, then you might like to follow “It’s Napoleon“. Written by Marie Reed Saint Fargeau from Yonne, France, this is a Twitter feed which mostly contains quotes from the Emperor. See an example below. Of course, you should also follow me on Twitter.

News and Apologies

Cameron — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:56:48 +0000

Hi folks, David and I are trying to schedule a time and a guest for a new Napoleon episode. I just didn’t want you to think we’d forgotten about you. I’m also getting closer to having the Ajaccio/Paris/Elba DVD ready. Just editing some final bits of video. Should be on sale shortly.

In the meantime, here’s a couple of articles about David that you might enjoy!

An Afternoon of Napoleon in Montreal

The Raucous Royals: Interview with J. David Markham

Nicholas Stark Needs Your Help

Cameron — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:37:36 +0000

While in Paris last July, after the Ajaccio INS Congress, I had the pleasure of meeting one of our listeners face-to-face - Nicholas Stark, an 18-year old Napoleon student who lives in Philadelphia. In his own words, Nicholas is “devout young historian, specializing in Napoleonic history”. He recently received the exciting news that he has been granted a scholarship to attend the American University of Paris, where he will be studying Napoleonic history and the French language. However the scholarship is quite small and he’s trying to raise the funds needed to continue his studies. You can read his story (and review his resume) on his blog. If anyone out there can help Nicholas achieve his dream of furthering his Napoleonic studies to become the next J. David Markham, please contact him on monsieurstark@yahoo.com or 267-226-2593.

The Napoleon Apron!

Cameron — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:11:31 +0000

As some of you may know, I recently started a cooking podcast on TPN and Edna Mueller, a listener of this show, sent me a much needed addition to my cooking accessories!

Thanks Edna!

Kubrick’s Napoleon screenplay

Cameron — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Many thanks to Ryan Crombie who discovered an online version of Stanley Kubrick’s 1969 Napoleon screenplay! As we discussed on the show, the film was unfortunately never produced, in part because Sergei Bondarchuk’s film WATERLOO (1970) was a commercial flop. I really look forward to reading through this! Read more about the film here.

Ralph Waldo Emerson on Napoleon

Cameron — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:43:42 +0000

I found a link to this essay by Emerson on Tim Ferriss’ blog (the 4 Hour Work Week guy).

It’s a really great essay. Here’s the final paragraph as a teaser:

It was not Bonaparte’s fault. He did all that in him lay to live and thrive without moral principle. It was the nature of things, the eternal law of man and of the world which baulked and ruined him; and the result, in a million experiments, will be the same. Every experiment, by multitudes or by individuals, that has a sensual and selfish aim, will fail. The pacific Fourier will be as inefficient as the pernicious Napoleon. As long as our civilization is essentially one of property, of fences, of exclusiveness, it will be mocked by delusions. Our riches will leave us sick; there will be bitterness in our laughter, and our wine will burn our mouth. Only that good profits which we can taste with all doors open, and which serves all men.

A plug for the Napoleon shop!

Cameron — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:21:07 +0000

One of our listeners asked me today where to find the Napoleon t-shirts for sale so I thought I should give another plug for our shop! Find t-shirts, coffee mugs, books and DVDs, all about your favourite Emperor!

Check out our new features!

Cameron — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:36:38 +0000

If you visit the Napoleon 101 homepage, on the right-hand sidebar you’ll see options to add Cameron to Twitter and Facebook and also a Members section! You can use your Google ID to login and see other members. I’m not that any of these things actually add value but I’m just playing around with Google Friend Connect.

Cameron Is Available For Hire… and Needs Your Help

Cameron — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:12:24 +0000

As some of you know, the main source of my income at the moment is producing podcasts for companies and government departments. Check this site for the basic pitch. I can produce podcasts for anyone anywhere in the world. Obviously video podcasts are limited to where I can get with my camera, but I’ve been recording audio interviews with international guests since 2004.

Who needs a podcast? Anyone in:

- Marketing
- PR
- HR
- Training
- Internal Comms

Especially in this time of financial tightening, podcasting is a tool more companies should be using. It’s a very cost-effective way to reach the key members of your audience on a weekly basis. And, of course, if you’re going to produce social media, you should work with someone who has actually some experience producing media for large audiences and isn’t just all talk.

So, here’s how you can help - if you know of anyone who might be interested in using my services, make sure you point them in my direction. In addition, if you email me the names, email addresses and telephone numbers of the people in your company that fulfill the above roles, I’ll contact them directly and give them the pitch (ideally using you as a point of introduction but, if you’re not comfortable with that, I’ll leave your name out of it).

Here are my contact details to make it easy:

Cameron Reilly
CEO, The Podcast Network
tel: +61 400455334
email: cameron@thepodcastnetwork.com

Thanks for your support!

Napoleon at the Bridge of the Arcole

Cameron — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:33:04 +0000

A big shout out to listener John Holloway who writes:

Monsieur Reilly,

I recently discovered that I could acquire high resolution images of
various artworks from Artstor.org. Considering my love of Napoleonic
imagery I could hardly resist finding myself a detailed scan of
Napoleon at the Bridge of Arcole. I trudged through the laborious task
of zooming in and saving high-resolution samples, then followed
reconstructing the 43 images into a perfectly aligned, high-definition
Jpeg file.

The scan is 2917 X 4187 pixel; 30.38 X 43.61 Inch

A store near my house will take images and mount then onto a fake
canvas. I’ve done this with other posters and images and they look
very nice. I am sure there are places down under that do the same.
I would like to share the image so that you - or anyone on Napoleon101 -
could have a copy or, if one is like me, print it out. Such a
masterpiece of Bonaparte propaganda is too difficult to hold to
myself.

-John Holloway

Thanks John! Everyone can download the high res version from my server here.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #49 - Michael Kroger

Cameron — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:46:11 +0000

Breaking away from talking to historians about Napoleon, today we have as our guest Australian businessman and political powerbroker, Michael Kroger.

Michael joins us to discuss his fascination with Napoleon, which extends to having 5 floors of his Melbourne mansion decorated in the Empire Style and owning (among other things) one of only seven original copies of “Napoleon After The Abdication” from the school of Paul Delaroche. He tells us about his love of the work of Percier and Fontaine, the chief exponents of the French Empire style of decorative arts and how he applies the lessons from Napoleon’s fall to both his business and political careers.

Have you bought a copy of David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, yet? Let’s make it the #1 History book on Amazon!

If you’re a new listener and you want to go back to episode one, you can find all of our episodes here.

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Buy something from our selection of official Napoleon 101 podcast shirts and coffee mugs!

Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Subscribe now to the TPN update email (fill in the below box) to get a weekly list of all of the new episodes on TPN in one easy-to-read format!

Happy Birthday El Presidente!

Cameron — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:00:52 +0000

Today (Dec 26) is David’s birthday! I would tell you his actual age but I wouldn’t want to get myself into trouble. Please raise your glasses in a toast - to the President!

Napoleon’s Trip to St Helena - The Weekly Aurora

Cameron — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:29:14 +0000

My Xmas present from my awesome little sister Anita today was a newspaper called the “Weekly Aurora” from Pennsylvania and dated September 22, 1815. The back two pages, in a section called “Latest Foreign Intelligence”, contain detailed news of Napoleon’s exile to St Helena, including accounts of Napoleon’s response to the news of his destination, as we as detailed account of St Helena. I’ve scanned these pages, and the masthead, for your enjoyment. I always find it exciting to read accounts of Napoleon’s activities from contemporary newspapers. This particular newspaper doesn’t seem too fond of the Emperor. I love this sentence:

“At length, after a career of insolent pretensions on one hand, and of strange and ungovernable curiosity on the other, the departure of this disturber of the world has taken place.”

Foreign Intelligence Page 1
Foreign Intelligence Page 2

TPN Server Issues

Cameron — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:41:48 +0000

In case you didn’t notice, we’ve been down for a couple of days. As you can read on the TPN blog, it was due to a hard drive failure on one of the servers. We’re in the process of re-building and it might take a few more days. At the moment we’re missing all of the media files (audio and video). I’ll get these re-uploaded asap. Stay tuned.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #48 - Rafe Blaufarb

Cameron — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:11:38 +0000

Continuing our series of chats with eminent Napoleonic scholars, today our guest is Rafe Blaufarb, Ben Weider Eminent Scholar and Director of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at Florida State University.

Dr. Blaufarb is a specialist in Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. He is the author of several books on the social and political history of the French military during this period: The French Army, 1750-1820: Careers, Talent, Merit (Manchester, 2002) and Bonapartists in the Borderlands: French Exiles and Refugees on the Gulf Coast, 1815-1835 (Tuscaloosa, 2006). He has published articles in the American Historical Review, Annales, H.S.S., Comparative Studies in Society and History, French Historical Studies, and Annales Historiques de la RÃ©volution FranÃ§aise on the French army, the French nobility, noble fiscal privilege, and the geopolitics of Latin American independence. His current research focuses on the politics of property during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era.

Rafe joins us to talk about the history and focus of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at FSU, how he got interested in Napoleonic studies, Napoleon’s views on economics and how he might have dealt with America’s current financial crisis, and Napoleon’s legacy in the Western Hemisphere.

Charlemagne

Cameron — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:17:05 +0000

David and I have done another episode of The Biography Show! This one is on Charlemagne. Get it here!

NAP 01

Cameron — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:33:57 +0000

NAP 01

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly

Do you think a fan of The Emperor owns this Brisbane Benz I spotted yesterday?

As Nicholas Stark pointed out in the comments to the last show, December 2 was the 204th anniversary of Napoleon and Josephine’s coronation. I hope you all raised a glass of your finest medication in his honour. I did!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #47 - Louis Davout, The Iron Marshal

Cameron — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:58:39 +0000

Welcome back! On episode #47, David and I have our first special guest!

Jerry Gallaher is Past President of the Napoleonic Alliance and author of the 1976 classic account of one of Napoleon’s greatest Marshals, Louis Davout - “Iron Marshal - A Biography of Louis N. Davout.” He’s also a true gentleman, scholar and totally charming. Meeting him was one of the highlights of the INS congress in Corsica last July.

So I’m sure it will be of no surprise to you to learn that our subject tonight is The Iron Marshal himself, Louis-Nicolas d’Avout (May 10, 1770 â€“ June 1, 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Duc d’Auerstaedt, 1st Prince d’EckmÃ¼hl, and Marshal of France.

Jerry Gallaher and David Markham, Nov 2008

Cameron Reilly and Jerry Gallaher, Ajaccio, Corsica 2008

Can I ask one more time for you to go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it? CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

On behalf of David and myself, I want to sincerely THANK YOU ALL for going on this journey with us over the last couple of years. It’s been a highlight of my podcasting career to be able to produce this for you. Of course I need to thank the one and only J. David Markham for giving us all so much of his time and knowledge freely and willingly over these last couple of years. I really do believe he has not only taken us all on a wonderful journey, but has also left a benchmark in podcasting and education.

Have you bought a copy of David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, yet? Let’s make it the #1 History book on Amazon!

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Subscribe now to the TPN update email (fill in the below box) to get a weekly list of all of the new episodes on TPN in one easy-to-read format!

David Markham’s Letter Regarding INS

Cameron — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:20:23 +0000

HI folks! Just a quick note to update you on a few things.

1. First of all, let me thank EVERYONE who has supported TPN’s Pledge Drive! We appreciate your support for indy media and helping us stay alive.

2. David Markham has written all INS members a letter outlining his new role as President following the passing of INS Founder Ben Weider.

3. Finally, David and I have scheduled time to record new episodes of both our Napoleon and Biography shows for next week! So stay tuned!

Napoleon’s Chess Games

Cameron — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:07:01 +0000

Victor Sheely again comes up with the goods - he sent me this link to a handful of Napoleon’s chess games. I just played through this game between Napoleon and Bertrand on St Helena in 1820 and it’s a SHOCKER. I’d always heard that Napoleon wasn’t a very good chess player but, seriously, my kids would have kicked his ass if he played like this. And they are only 8. Mind you, as we discussed on the show, Napoleon was probably riddled with arsenic at this stage so I guess I should cut him some credit.

A New President!

Cameron — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:03:31 +0000

No, not Barack Obama.

Today I received the below letter today from Eric Weider, son of the late Ben Weider, advising me that his father’s wish was for J. David Markham to assume the role of President of the International Napoleonic Society. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that there isn’t a better person to assume the role of promoting the awareness and study of Napoleonic history than David. He has given his time, knowledge and energy freely to helping me produce this podcast over the last few years and, as a result, tens of thousands of people have been introduced to the history of Napoleon who may otherwise have missed out on learning about the fascinating man and period of history.

So on behalf of all of us, I would like to congratulate David! Salute!

PS would one of you like to update David’s profile on Wikipedia? I’m been slapped on the wrist by the Wikipedia moderators for updating David’s profile in the past. Apparently I’m not an objective source.

Please Support the TPN Pledge Drive

Cameron — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:23:56 +0000

Dear TPN listeners, viewers and friends,

You know that we spend a LOT of time producing our shows for you.

And as we arenâ€™t making money out of advertising, weâ€™d like to ask for your support to help us keep TPN running. We have real costs in IT support, hardware, bandwidth, etc., as well as our time and effort. For the last four years, weâ€™ve covered these costs ourselves. Outside a small amount of advertising that we have run, the majority of TPNâ€™s costs have been covered by myself and the TPN hosts have donated their time.

Now, we know that paying for online content is probably new to some of you. You are used to getting it for free.

However, we do ask you to think about the idea of the people funding their own media. We all know that if corporate advertising is the main source of funding for the media, it influences the kinds of media that is produced and the messages they carry. We donâ€™t want that kind of media to be the only kind out there. We want an independent media, run by the people and for the people.

If you want to support our efforts to bring you intelligent and entertaining content, please consider one of our donation plans listed here at the TPN Pledge Drive page.

Your support is appreciated!

cheers,
Cameron

Iced Earth - “Waterloo”

Cameron — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:23:48 +0000

One of our listeners, Victor Sheely, sent me a link to this song “Waterloo” by Florida-based heavy metal band Iced Earth. The video uses footage from Bondarchuk’s famous 1971 film “Waterloo” and if you are trying to work out the lyrics, you can find them here. Thanks for the link Victor!

Napoleon CD competition - Entry #1

Cameron — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 02:08:46 +0000

We have our first entry to our Napoleon competition as mentioned on episode #46! This entry is from Simon Walter from Duesseldorf who writes:

My name’s Simon, I’m 20 years old and studying History and English in Duesseldorf (which is - of course - where Heinrich Heine, who was a great admirer of NapolÃ©on, was born); aside of my studies (I just started one month ago) I’m totally into poetry and if there’s any chance to establish my passion as financial basis of my life, I’ll certainly go for it. My first play (’Menschenfelder’ - only available in german so far) was published in August and I’m storing alot of stuff on my blog (http://simonjustuswalter.blogsport.de - mostly german too). How I got into Napoleonic History, I cannot really recall; we didn’t cover the subject in school (or at least I don’t remember anything) but I internalized the idea of NapolÃ©on as a great and positive force for human history very early in life. When I was 18 I got hold of two biographies and even though they were obviously intended to be critical of NapolÃ©ons career, they encouraged me to research this mysterious’ mans life further and I eventually ended up discovering your podcast (around episode ~30); since then I’ve been nothing but enthusiastic. I’ve not been to France yet but one of my primary goals in life is to visit Paris and in fact follow the very route NapolÃ©on took after his return from Elba, before my 30th birthday; I have however read a tremendous amount of literature on NapolÃ©on and visited Schloss Arenenberg this summer (which is where Hortense and her son, the later NapolÃ©on III. lived - they have a very nice museum up there and are rebuilding the beautiful park at the moment), getting more and more absorbed into this outstanding and unique life. What fascinates me the most - finally getting to the subject; no idea whether I’ve already crossed the 200-words-line) is NapolÃ©ons steadiness. I think you, Cameron, defined this feeling once as the constant question “What would NapolÃ©on do?”, which, for myself, is not bound to concrete situations, but in fact a greater scheme to approach life successfully. When I wrote my play during the last three years I’d often encounter moments where I felt like “Man, you are just 18/19/20, what’s it all about? Go out and have some fun” or “Nobody will read it anyway, why don’t you spend your time on more practical matters?” and always I somehow found myself confronted with the image of NapolÃ©on and knew I had to stay firm. It’s not like “Oh, I don’t know what to do - What would NapolÃ©on do?” but in fact a way of mastering the everlasting doubts of life; his career, his accomplishments, his glory tell me, that everyone has the power to make his very dreams come true, that everyone can accomplish whatever he or she is aiming for, as long as one stands firm and doesn’t lose trust in him-/herself.
NapolÃ©on will always be there; in fact I’m surrounded by four images of the emperor right now (no originals obviously; all printed out and framed by myself) and when I celebrated my namesday (no idea whether this is common in Australia) on Tuesday, my parents presented me a little golden bell, showing an ancient battle scene, the emperor standing on top in his familiar gesture. I could write so much more about the ideas NapolÃ©on granted me, about the way he has influenced my lyrical projects and will do so in the forseeable future, about how I decided to learn french as a tribute to his input to my life or how his quotes use to touch and inspire me.

However, I think this has gone far beyond the intended 200 words (600+, I just checked) and I’ll therefore come to an end; I just want to add how very grateful I am towards David and you for putting so much time and passion into an excellent show; I’ve never really contributed on the website and this is the very first e-mail I write to you, so obviously I have to make up for quite a bit. Keep up your good work and may the imperial eagle protect you.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #46 - In Memory of Ben Weider

Cameron — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:43:50 +0000

Hi folks. As you’ll have seen in my last post, Ben Weider, President and Founder of the International Napoleonic Society, passed away on October 17, 2008. As Ben was a major influence in Napoleonic circles, a tireless promoter of the Emperor’s achievements, and, not least, a very close friend and colleague of David’s, we wanted to share with you some thoughts on Ben. I was at David’s house in Olympia this last weekend, shooting video of his AMAZING Napoleonic collection for our upcoming DVD pack, and we sat down to pay homage to Ben. This interview also features a chat with our friend Sean Richarz, composer of the musical â€œLes Cent Jours De Napoleonâ€ (The 100 Days of Napoleon) that I mentioned when we were in Ajaccio last July and an opportunity for you to win one of five free signed CD’s of the music from the musical! Listen to the show to find out how to enter the competition.

Can I ask one more time for you to go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it? CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

Have you bought a copy of David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, yet? Let’s make it the #1 History book on Amazon!

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Subscribe now to the TPN update email (fill in the below box) to get a weekly list of all of the new episodes on TPN in one easy-to-read format!

Ben Weider RIP

Cameron — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:17 +0000

Ben Weider, President of the International Napoleonic Society, passed away on October 17, aged 85.

I know David was a very close friend of Ben’s and I’m sure he’ll want to talk a lot about him and his contribution to Napoleonic history when I catch up with him for dinner on the weekend. I’ll shoot some video for the site.

I consider myself very fortunate to have received my Legion of Merit certificate and medallion in July, both signed by Ben.

Ben recently donated his awe-inspiring collection of Napoleonic memorabilia (including one of Napoleon’s hats) to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and was to attend the opening on Thursday this week. On the request of the Weider family, the exhibition will open to the public as planned on Friday, October 24.

For those of you who aren’t aware of Ben’s achievements, here’s a short list from his profile on Wikipedia:

- He was the co-founder of the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) along with brother Joe Weider;

- He co-authored a book, The Murder Of Napoleon, with Sten Forshufvud which promoted the view of Napoleon’s death from arsenic poisoning;

- Weider also founded the International Napoleonic Society, of which he was the President;

- In 1975 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Officer in 2006.

- In 2000, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.

- On October 12, 2000, he received the French Legion of Honor.

- Weider was also a 1984 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize

- The Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at the Florida State University History Department has recently created the Ben Weider Chair in Revolutionary Studies.

- From 1998 to 2005, Ben Weider was Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the 62nd (Shawinigan) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA. In 2005, he was promoted to be the Honorary Colonel of that military unit. In October 2006 Ben Weider unexpectedly retired as president of the IFBB.

- In 2008, he was awarded the lifetime achievement award at the Arnold Classic 2008.

On behalf of all of our listeners, I’d like to thank Ben for his enormous contribution of the memory of Napoleon and send our sincere condolences to his family. My thanks also to Larry Bertoia for bringing the news of Ben’s passing to our attention.

Was King Arthur Real?

Cameron — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:08:06 +0000

Find out on The Biography Show!

Unique Napoleonic Gifts

Cameron — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:19:54 +0000

What do you give loved ones who are also Napoleon buffs?

When I was in Ajaccio in July, I stumbled upon a wonderful store selling unique Napoleonic gifts - t-shirts, etc. All of them were custom designed and of a very high quality. Unfortunately, they don’t have a site I can link you to.

I have, however, found these wonderful Napoleon-themed gifts on Etsy.

Ahem… did I mention it’s my birthday on Oct 10?

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #45 - La Mort de Napoleon

Cameron — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:55:10 +0000

Well…. here we are folks. The end of the chronological part of our story. It’s been two-and-a-half years in the making. Sometimes I never thought we’d get here. In many ways, I wish we hadn’t. But it had to happen - and so - on today’s episode, the Emperor - dies.

We discuss his last two years on St Helena, without a decent doctor to attend to his increasing illness - which, of course, we believe to be symptoms of arsenic poisoning - his death and then his subsequent return to Paris, many years later.

With the end of our chronological story, we might take a rest. Fear not, however - the show isn’t over yet. We’ll be back to do some epiloguecasts, fulfilling some of the requests you’ve made over the last couple of years for us to drill down into some of the other characters in this most amazing story.

Can I ask one more time for you to go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it? CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

Have you bought a copy of David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, yet? Let’s make it the #1 History book on Amazon!

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Subscribe now to the TPN update email (fill in the below box) to get a weekly list of all of the new episodes on TPN in one easy-to-read format!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #44 - The Murder Of Napoleon

Cameron — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:17:45 +0000

On today’s episode, David and I talk about Napoleon’s struggles with Hudson Lowe, the theory that he was slowly being murdered while on St Helena, poisoned by someone in his own retinue, his sexual escapades with Albine de Montholon, and whether or not he had a “foxhole” religious conversion.

Have you bought a copy of David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, yet? Let’s make it the #1 History book on Amazon!

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Subscribe now to the TPN update email (fill in the below box) to get a weekly list of all of the new episodes on TPN in one easy-to-read format!

Napoleon to Alexander

Cameron — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:42:58 +0000

I was reading THE TIMES ONLINE tonight (a 1984 story from their archives about the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle in case you were wondering) when I spotted the below quote from Napoleon. Click on the image to get taken to The Times site where you can read a story from 1809 about a letter Napoleon wrote to Czar Alexander.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #43 - Sir Hudson Lowe

Cameron — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:02:56 +0000

The story of Napoleon’s years on St Helena is dominated by one man, whose name is infamous in Napoleonic history - Sir Hudson Lowe, Napoleon’s “jailer”.

The Duke of Wellington later said that he was “a very bad choice; he was a man wanting in education and judgement. He was a stupid man, he knew nothing at all of the world, and like all men who knew nothing of the world, he was suspicious and jealous”.

On today’s show we discuss the arrival of Lowe to St Helena and Napoleon’s forced move to new premises, Longwood.

Longwood today. Photo by G.Wilson (see the Travelling Historian site for more great photos of Longwood.)

We also talk a bit about Corsica and Paris! Keep an eye out for the DVD pack which I’ll hopefully have ready in a few weeks.

Have you bought a copy of David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, yet? Let’s make it the #1 History book on Amazon!

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Subscribe now to the TPN update email (fill in the below box) to get a weekly list of all of the new episodes on TPN in one easy-to-read format!

My Photo in Schmap Paris Guide!

Cameron — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 08:03:43 +0000

You know how I’m a big Napoleon geek, right?

Well a photo I took of Napoleon’s tomb in Paris back in 2004 has been selected for the Schmap Paris Guide! Check the link below.

PS… a new show coming this week… we promise!!!!

Interminable Delays!

Cameron — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:49:05 +0000

Sorry folks - David and I just wanted to apologize for the longer-than-usual break between shows! We’ve both been crazy busy since getting back from France, with lots of interstate trips in our schedules and it’s been hard to get together. We’ve got one scheduled for the week of the 18th!

Le Chapeau

Cameron — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:08:17 +0000

Just a quick note to let you know that we’ll be recording a new show next week! Stay tuned!

Nicholas Starkâ€™s Weblog

Cameron — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:07:39 +0000

In my last post I mentioned Nicholas Stark, the 17 year-old student who joined us in Paris for a few days (he was actually there for two weeks, soaking himself in Napoleonic history). Well, with my encouragement, Nicholas has set up his own blog about Napoleon. From our conversations in Paris, I know he intends to pursue a career in history and I advised him to start building his brand with a blog. I’d like to encourage each of you to check out his writing on Napoleon (see link below). I’ve found him to be quite knowledgeable and passionate about the subject.

Link - Nicholas Stark’s Weblog

Some photos from Paris!

Cameron — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:29:37 +0000

Hey folks! Well I’m back in Australia after an AMAZING two weeks in France. The above photos, and a number of others you can find in the Napoleon 101 Flickr Group, was taken by our new friend Nicholas Stark, a 17 year-old student from the US who joined us for a couple of days in Paris.

On July 14, Bastille Day, we shot some video at Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe and Les Invalides. David provided some commentary of Napoleon’s tomb, the Arc, and various Napoleonic paintings and exhibits at The Louvre. This video, along with the audio and video recordings from the INS congress at Ajaccio, will be available on the DVD pack I’ll be putting out asap.

By the way, in the Flickr Group you’ll see a couple of photos taken at Changi Airport (Singapore) of the Legion Of Merit medal I was presented with, by David, at the Gala Dinner at the end of the Congress. It was a great honour and something every button pusher aspires to. David was also presented with the Medal Of The City Of Ajaccio by the Mayor of Ajaccio during a cocktail reception held at their city hall, beneath an original painting of Napoleon in his ceremonial robes from the coronation. There will be photos of that, and much much more, going up in the Flickr group over the next week or so, so keep an eye out.

â€œLes Cent Jours De Napoleonâ€ - The Musical!

Cameron — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:53:46 +0000

Bonjour from Ajaccio!

We’re having an UNBELIEVABLE time over here, with a terrific group of Napoleonic scholars and historians, drinking chestnut whisky, smoking Cuban cigars, lying on the beach, and, of course, discussing Napoleon!

One of the highlights of the Congress will be the performance of several musical numbers from â€œLes Cent Jours De Napoleonâ€, a musical about Napoleon’s Hundred Days written by Seattle composer Sean Richarz and performed by Sean, Christine Dunaway and Craig Schell, who are both also from Seattle. Check out the site for the musical, have a listen to excerpts from it, and look forward to it coming to a concert hall near you soon!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #42 - The Prisoner of Longwood

Cameron — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:34:22 +0000

Have you bought a copy of David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, yet? Let’s make it the #1 History book on Amazon!

Would you like to spend some time with David and I in Paris? Keep an eye on this blog over the next couple of weeks for details but it will be in the evening of July 13th, probably at the Cafe de la Paix around 5pm.

On today’s episode, we discuss Napoleon’s journey on the Northumberland to St Helena and his arrival on the island, one of the most remote locations on earth and the last place he would ever visit.

We also discuss the people who chose to go with Napoleon into exile and their possible motivations, the impression Napoleon made on various people aboard the Northumberland, and the decision to imprison Napoleon in Longwood.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s house Longwood on St Helena

This version of La Marseillaise is sung by the Stade de France crowd, recorded on the occasion of the 2007 Rugby World Cup semi-final between France and England (source).

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Coming to Paris in July

Cameron — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:30:36 +0000

I’m going to be in Paris July 5 and July 13, 14, 15. Anyone interested in catching up?

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #41 - The Lion Roars

Cameron — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:25:07 +0000

Hey folks - do you think we can make David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, the #1 History book on Amazon? Buy five copies today, give them to your friends, and make Napoleon NUMBER ONE!

In this episode of The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast we examine how the British government came to the conclusion that it would be a cold day in hell before “Old Boney” would ever set foot on British soil or given the opportunity of justice before a fair trial. Breaking laws, making up new laws, defying their own people - the British government decided to banish Napoleon forever to a tiny island in the middle of nowhere - St Helena.

David explains that Napoleon *could* have ended up here

… but didn’t.

This version of La Marseillaise is sung by the Stade de France crowd, recorded on the occasion of the 2007 Rugby World Cup semi-final between France and England (source).

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Napoleon’s #1 fan - age 7

cameron — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:59:36 +0000

This morning we got this comment on Episode 1:

# ethan Says:

I am Napoleonâ€™s #1 fan! I am 7. I am looking forward to future podcasts. This is very interesting. You should watch my review of â€œEssential Visual History of the Worldâ€ for the Storytubes contest. (I had to cut it down to only 2 minutes, though.)
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.

His video is great! I think my son Hunter, who is also 7, came home from school last week with two book from the school library - both about Napoleon. I think I should introduce him to Ethan!

Let’s all vote for Ethan on May 26 and help him win some books!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #40 - The Road to St Helena

cameron — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:57:23 +0000

Hey folks - do you think we can make David’s new book, THE ROAD TO ST HELENA, the #1 History book on Amazon? Buy five copies today, give them to your friends, and make Napoleon NUMBER ONE!

On today’s show, David examines the political machinations the British went through to make sure Napoleon never set foot on British soil. According to the British law of ‘habeas corpus’, Napoleon should have been given a fair trial, but of course several people in England didn’t want that to happen. Did all of the British feel the same way? What were the reasons for denying Napoleon the right to justice?

Listen to today’s show to find out!

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes! The music at the end of today’s show is Marche de la Garde Ã Waterloo. You can find it, along with many other Napoleonic tunes, on this site. Thanks to Ben for the link!

Some Photos From A Listener

Cameron — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:11:25 +0000

Listener Tim O’Dwyer from Australia, who describes himself as “an old Aussie lawyer (who believes he could do a good plea of guilty for Prince Talleyrand)”, recently visited France and Israel with his wife and submitted some Napoleonis snaps from his visits to Malmaison and Jaffa. See more in the Napoleon 101 Flickr group. Thanks Tim!

A new Biography Show is out!

Cameron — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:45:47 +0000

I just thought I’d give a plug for the other show David and I are doing - The Biography Show - which has a new episode up about Helen Of Troy. Did she really exist? Or is completely fictional? Find out our thoughts on the show!

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!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #39 - Au Revoir France!

Cameron — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:22:49 +0000

I know it’s been a while between drinks, my friends, but there are good reasons. Listen to today’s show to learn more!

Today we finally… FINALLY… get Napoleon on “the boat”!

David walks us through Napoleon’s last days in France and his reasons for choosing to surrender himself to the British instead of making a run for the United States.

(Chateau la Malmaison - by Cameron Reilly)

(David in Napoleon’s bed chamber, Aix)

(Napoleon surrendering to Maitland, from the collection of J. David Markham)

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Napoleon manga

Cameron — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:24:43 +0000

My thanks to Brian who, in the comments of a recent post mentioned there was a mange comic about Napoleon by HASEGAWA TETSUYA. I did some research and found an online store selling them.

I’ve found a site that discussed the comic which I’ve translated for your reading pleasure here.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #38 - Napoleon’s Options

Cameron — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:48:16 +0000

Let me start off by apologizing for my audio - it seems I had the wrong microphone on. Luckily I’m just the button pusher so the impact is small.

In today’s episode, David explains the range of options Napoleon considered after his abdication of 22 June, 1815. Should he go to England, Russia, Austria or the United States?

Don’t forget to check out our new podcast The Biography Show on TPN where you will hear us talk about the lives of people such as Alexander The Great and King Hammurabi of Babylon.

(image is from a new comic about Napoleon inspired by this podcast and conceived by listener Per Ove Sleen from Norway!)

AUDIO:

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Paris 2008 Map

cameron — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 09:55:10 +0000

Paris 2008 Map

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly

Some of the places I’m visiting (and staying) on my trip to Paris in July. If you want to open it in Google Maps, use this link.

My Napoleon Library on Shelfari

Cameron — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 03:29:28 +0000

I’m moving house at the moment and as part of the process, I’m documenting my library of books using an online tool called Shelfari.com. It also gives me an opportunity to create discussion groups around books and so I’ve created one around my Napoleonic collection (link). I think it might be an interesting tool for all of us to review Napoleonic books we’ve read. Please feel free to join and submit reviews of books you’ve enjoyed! I’ve only added one from my collection so far (David’s “Dummies” book, of course) but will be adding the rest over the next few days.

Napoleon invented the computer?

Cameron — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:35:02 +0000

Well, not quite, but listener Arni Sigurdsson from Iceland found this website which explains how Napoleon was important to the development of the modern computer. According to the site:

Napoleonâ€™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!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #37 - Fouche’s Machiavellian Machinations

Cameron — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:35:56 +0000

Somehow we managed to get another entire episode just out of Joseph Fouche, Minister of Police, Duke of Otranto, and his machinations after Napoleon’s abdication to try to ensure his own position of power in post-Napoleonic France. We also talk about what’s happening during this period of instability with Marshals Ney, Davout and Murat. Napoleon, although the topic of much discussion, is, in this episode, almost a minor character.

AUDIO ONLY:

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The Biography Show #001 - Alexander The Great

Cameron — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 03:12:21 +0000

Well as you know, David and I have been threatening to inflict another podcast series on you for a while and I’m happy to announce that one of them is finally here!

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.

Paris accommodation

Cameron — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 04:04:46 +0000

After the International Napoleonic Society conference that’s being held in Corsica in July, I intend on spending a few days in Paris (July 12 - 15). If anyone out there has recommendations on affordable accommodation, please let me know.

Audio Feed vs Video Feed

Cameron — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:17:08 +0000

Okay, I’ve worked out why the video is coming down in the audio feed. If that happened to you, and you didn’t want the video, my apologies. Here’s how to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

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.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #36 (Video) - The End Of The Empire

Cameron — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:14:06 +0000

Welcome to a very special edition of the Napoleon podcast - now with added video! (NOTE: I will be putting up an embedded version of the video shortly as well.)

When David and I were recording the latest episode of the show yesterday I sprung on him the idea of capturing the video of our skype chat and putting that up as an added version of the show. My smiling mug is missing from this video (I forgot to check “capture picture-in-picture”) but that just means David takes up more of the screen.

We’ll take your feedback about whether or not seeing our faces has any value to you. If you would like to see more video, I’ll create a separate RSS feed for the video versions so you can just subscribe to them and have iTunes suck them down for you and throw them on your iPod.

IPOD VIDEO:
This version of the video is for downloading and placing on your iPod Touch or iPhone. It’s around 500Mb.
Download the iPod version of the podcast.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #36 (Audio) - The End Of The Empire

Cameron — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:26:17 +0000

In this episode David explains the Machiavellian machinations of Joseph Fouche in the days after Waterloo; how Napoleon was trying to manage the destiny of the Empire from his bath; and the events leading up to Napoleon’s final abdication from the throne and then declaring a regency in the name of his son, Napoleon II.

AUDIO ONLY:

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

We have partnered with a London-based company called Pods in Print to provide written transcriptions of the Napoleon 101 podcast starting at this stage from episode #21. Access to the transcripts requires a subscription. Itâ€™s US$12.95 for one month or $120 a year. Check them out here.

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #35 - After Waterloo

Cameron — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:51:43 +0000

First of all, let me wish you all a happy 2008 from David and myself.
Second, please allow me to apologize - both for the delay in this episode of our little show as well as the audio problems with it. As I explain in the introduction to the show, there was a major technical snafu with the recording (apparently a result of a Skype upgrade not playing nice with my recording software) which left David’s voice sounding like Darth Vader after a couple of Ambien. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to clean it up as best as I can. It’s still not perfect but hopefully won’t hurt your ears too much. I think for future shows I’ll record on the Macbook - we might even do a VIDEO episode (if, of course, any of you would be interested in watching our handsome mugs while we talk).

Now… on with the show notes.

After the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon had to make a series of strategic decisions. Can he save Paris? Can he still raise an army? Is all, finally, lost? In this episode, David takes us through some of Napoleon’s thinking and actions in the days immediately following his last appearance on the battlefields of Europe.

(Photo by shandara. Check out more Napoleonic photos at the Vive l’Empereur! Flickr group)

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The Waterloo Drum

Cameron — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:58:43 +0000

A few weeks ago I took my kids for a drive out to Benalla in country Victoria to visit a few Ned Kelly memorial sites (Ned is a very famous Australian folk hero).

To my surprise, at the Benalla and District Historical Society, I discovered this display. It is, apparently, one of the drums used by the Dutch forces at Waterloo and was handed down to a local family.

Campfires Of Napoleon

Cameron — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:47:19 +0000

One of my sisters gave me this gift for Christmas: “Campfires of Napoleon”, by Henry Clay Watson and published 1854 by Porter Coates in Philadelphia. Watson, a journalist and editor by profession, wrote the book when he was only 23.

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.

Happy Birthday J. David Markham!

Cameron — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:18:18 +0000

Dec 26 is Mr Markham’s birthday so please send him your birthday wishes. Rather than buy him a present, why not buy someone else a copy of one of his books as a gift? I’m sure he’d appreciate that.

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!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #34 - The Battle of Waterloo Part 2

Cameron — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:44:59 +0000

The Battle of Waterloo, along with the Battle of Wavre, was fought on 18 June 1815, and was Napoleon Bonaparte’s last battle. His defeat put a final end to his rule as Emperor of the French. It is probably one of the most famous battles in history. It has been the subject of much debate for nearly 200 years and we’ll probably still be debating it 200 years hence. We could have spaced this episode out over several more episodes but this show is about providing an introduction to Napoleon, we’re not trying to deliver the definitive commentary on his life, so we’ve covered the battle, as best we can, in a little over 90 minutes. What were the reasons for Napoleon’s defeat? Was it superior strategy on behalf of the Allies? Inferior strategy on behalf of Napoleon? Treachery? Incompetence? Illness? Bad luck? A combination of all of these?

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

Napoleon love story page sells for €23,000

Cameron — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:07:07 +0000

A single manuscript page from a love story written by Napoleon Bonaparte sold for €23,000 (£17,000) at Osenat auction house in France yesterday.
It was the first page of the final draft of Napoleon’s 1795 short novel Clisson and Eugenie, only 22 pages in its original handwritten form. The story, loosely based on the author’s brief romance with the sister of his brother’s wife, Desiree Clary, was not published in Napoleon’s lifetime. (link)

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #33 - The Battle of Waterloo Part 1

Cameron — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 08:44:36 +0000

On this episode we discuss the first two major battles of the 1815 Waterloo campaign - Quatre Bras (16 June) and Ligny (16 June). The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras, Belgium, on 16 June 1815 between Wellington’s Anglo-Dutch army and the left wing of the ArmÃ©e du Nord under Marshal Michel Ney. The Battle of Ligny was fought on 16 June 1815 when French troops of the ArmÃ©e du Nord (Army of the North) under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, defeated a Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal BlÃ¼cher. Ligny was Napoleon’s last victory. BlÃ¼cher’s defeated army survived to play a pivotal part two days later at the Battle of Waterloo.

Battle map of the Waterloo campaign:

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

The TPN 2007 Survey

Cameron — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:55:00 +0000

Hey folks - I would REALLY appreciate it if a few (thousand) of you could pop on over to the TPN 2007 Survey (link: http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/survey) and spend ten minutes filling it out. We need to collect some anonymous data on our audience demographics to use in discussions with advertisers. Thanks!

Napoleon podcast mentioned in The Robb Report

Cameron — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:06:46 +0000

As David mentioned in #32, he was interviewed for the latest edition of The Robb Report magazine about his snuffbox. Here are the images!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #32 - The Hundred Days Part Two

Cameron — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:38:58 +0000

Re-established on the throne of Paris in April 1815, Napoleon introduces a new Constitution and begs the Monarchs of Europe and Great Britian for peace. His envoys are rebuffed and his letters returned unopened. The Allies, still ensconced at the Congress of Vienna where they have been since November 1814, declare Napoleon an international outlaw and prepare to attack with one million troops. Napoleon has inherited only 200,000 troops from Louis XVIII. He puts together his new team and prepares for the inevitable battle.

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #31 - The Hundred Days

Cameron — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:52:07 +0000

Napoleon, separated from his wife and son (who had come under Austrian control), cut off from the allowance guaranteed to him by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, and aware of rumours that he was about to be banished to a remote island in the Atlantic, escaped from Elba on 26 February 1815 and returned to the French mainland on 1 March 1815. Thus began “The Hundred Days”.

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

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Cameron interviewed about Napoleon

Cameron — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 03:54:41 +0000

While I was a podcasting conference in Perth (that’s in Western Australia, the most remote city on the planet) last weekend, Nick Hodge from Microsoft Australia interviewed me on my passion for Napoleon. I thought I would share it with you. Apologies for the fact that I appear to be eating a mint at the beginning of the interview.

Cameron Reilly on Napoleone di Buonaparte

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #30 - The Journey To Elba

Cameron — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:53:06 +0000

Today we look at the period immediately after Napoleon’s first abdication in 1814 - his suicide attempt, the Allies’ discussions about where to send him (the Treaty of Fontainebleau), and his incredible work ethic once he arrived in Elba. Then we examine his reasons for deciding to leave Elba after a mere ten months and return… to France.

I also mention during the show that I was recently extremely honoured to be informed that I am to be made a “Fellow” of the International Napoleonic Society (at the suggestion of their Vice-President J. David Markham) and David plugs the INS conference which we will both be attending in Ajaccio, Corsica, July 7 - 11 2008. We would both love to see all of you there! Download the registration form here (link).

Some images to go with today’s episode:

Napoleon On Elba

The Abdication Desk

Detail from The Abdication Desk

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #29 - The First Abdication

Cameron — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:18:22 +0000

As 1814 begins, Napoleon is surrounded by problems following the Battle of Leipzig, but he still has some fight left in him. In this nearly two hour long episode, David takes us through the failed peace talks, The Six Day War, the betrayal of Murat, Ney and the surrender of Paris, Napoleon being a mere four hours too late to save his city from being turned over to the enemy by his brother Joseph.

(NOTE ON AUDIO PLAYER: I’m having some trouble getting the audio player to work with this episode. The mp3 file itself seems okay, so you should be able to download it or stream it by opening the below file in a new window. I’ll put the audio player up asap.)

RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

This image is from the personal collection of J. David Markham:

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #28 - The Battle Of Nations

Cameron — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:16:24 +0000

As Napoleon’s ‘friends’ continued to betray him, by late 1813 the total Allied armies east of the Rhine probably exceeded a million men. By contrast Napoleon’s forces had dwindled to just a few hundred thousand. Short on horses, soldiers, food and ammunition, Napoleon soldiered on, fighting off his enemies in battles at Dresden and Leipzig while gradually being forced back to France’s natural borders. The Battle Of Nations, also known as The Battle of Leipzig, is considered the largest battle in Europe before World War I, with over 500,000 troops involved. Britain, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Bavaria and Saxony were now all united against Napoleon’s France.

This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!

Some pictures to go along with the episode:

A map of the Battle of Leipzig

David at Leipzig 2007 Giving His Professional Opinion on the Outcome of the Battle

Napoleon Cracks His Teeth On The Hard Nut of Leipzig from the collection of J. David Markham

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or
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WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Buy the official Napoleon 101 podcast t-shirt or coffee mug!

Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

David and Barbara model our gear

Cameron — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:58:32 +0000

David and Barbara show off their Napoleon 101 gear! Available only at:
www.cafepress.com/napoleonpodcast

See all of the photos here (link).

Markham And Reilly - The Premium Edition… Survey

Cameron — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:21:16 +0000

download the show

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 â€œpremiumâ€ 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 wouldnâ€™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

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #27 - War of the Sixth Coalition

Cameron — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:17:40 +0000

In our mighty 27th episode, almost another full 90 minutes, David and I look at the events leading to the War of the Sixth Coalition.

After the terrible losses Napoleon suffered on his “strategic withdrawal” from Russia, his political position in Europe was significantly weakened. In 1813, Prussia, who had been an ally of France since Prussia’s humiliating defeat in 1806, joined the United Kingdom, Russia, Spain and Portugal in The Sixth Coalition against Napoleonic France. This lead to the Battle of Dresden on 26â€“27 August 1813 where Napoleon had a terrific return to form, soundly defeating the combined forces of his enemies.

I must show you this marvelous photograph of David modeling the wonderful range of Napoleon 101 clothing available only at The Napoleon 101 Store

PRESS PLAY
or
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Buy the official Napoleon 101 podcast t-shirt or coffee mug!

Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #26 - The Invasion Of Russia (Part III)

Cameron — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:13:06 +0000

Recorded on Napoleon’s 238th birthday, we celebrate by making this our LONGEST show yet! 93 minutes of Napoleonic fun! Well, actually, as the subject is the Russian campaign, perhaps not so much fun for Napoleon and his troops, but fun for us to discuss nonetheless.

In this episode we find Napoleon marching into Moscow, the Russians (yes, the Russians!) setting fire to their ancient city, Napoleon waiting for Alexander to make peace, finally realizing that isn’t going to happen, and then marching (what remains of) the Grand Armee back to France. Of course, this “retreat” (or “strategic withdrawal”, as David insists on calling it) is perhaps one of the most tragic stories in military history.

Some objects from David’s personal collections:

For further reading, I recommend:

Napoleon’s Expedition to Russia: The Memoirs of General de Segur

PRESS PLAY
or
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Buy the official Napoleon 101 podcast t-shirt or coffee mug!

Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

Join the Napoleon 101 Facebook group!

Cameron — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 06:18:20 +0000

Listener Marc Bergevin Vollebekk in Ottawa has created a Napoleon 101 group in Facebook as a place for us to discuss the topics on the show! Thanks Marc! You can join the group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.

Napoleon Gance Poster

cameron — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:36:14 +0000

Napoleon Gance Poster (2)

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly

Isn’t David Markham the bomb!?! He sent me this marvelous, fully framed and original poster from the 1980 restoration of Abel Gance’s 1927 silent epic “Napoleon”. I love it. This is going in the pool room. Thank you David-san!

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The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #25 - The Invasion Of Russia (Part II)

Cameron — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:19:03 +0000

In this episode, David talks us through The Battle of Borodino, which took place on September 7, 1812, and was the largest and bloodiest single-day battle of the Napoleonic Wars, involving more than a quarter of a million soldiers and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties. Next stop - MOSCOW.

For further reading, I recommend:

The Battle Of Borodino website

PRESS PLAY
or
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Buy the official Napoleon 101 podcast t-shirt or coffee mug!

Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

Transcripts of the Napoleon 101 podcast now available

Cameron — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 13:38:40 +0000

Three kisses from Napoleon worth Â£276,000

Cameron — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:43:54 +0000

From the BBC this morning:

A love letter from Napoleon to his future wife, Josephine, has fetched some Â£276,000 ($556,000; 409,000 euros) at an auction in London.

In the letter - one of only three known to have been sent to Josephine by the French emperor before their marriage - he apologises after a furious row.

The early love letter was written after a heated argument.

“I send you three kisses - one on your heart, one on your mouth and one on your eyes,” Napoleon wrote.

Read the full story here!

Please Support Our Show - Nominate Us for a Podcast Award

Cameron — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 04:12:28 +0000

Your reviews on iTunes. Your emails. Contest entries. Posts on our blog. We ask for so little.

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

This year for the first time ever weâ€™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 â€œClick here to nominate.â€

3) When there, you can enter us in Peopleâ€™s Choice and one other category. But since we probably will never win the Peopleâ€™s Choice, donâ€™t bother with that one.

Just nominate us in the Education category. Donâ€™t nominate us for any other category - if you nominate us for more than one category (with the exception of â€œPeopleâ€™s Choice,â€) neither vote counts!

You have to fill out our showâ€™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 youâ€™re a podcaster, listener or both.

5) Hit â€œSubmitâ€ and youâ€™re done!

You can only nominate us once, so when youâ€™ve taken care of this, youâ€™re done!

Will you take three minutes and help us out? Weâ€™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 â€œEducationâ€ category, OK?)

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

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #24 - The Invasion Of Russia (Part I)

Cameron — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:45:37 +0000

On June 24, 1812, the Grande ArmÃ©e of approximately 600,000 men, the largest army assembled up to that point in European history, crossed the river Neman and headed towards Moscow. In this episode, we focus on the first few months, and follow Napoleon as he captures Vilna, Vitebsk and Smolensk.

We examine why Napoleon was so confident that the campaign would be a short one and why he was so very, very wrong. We also discuss what was happening in the Russian camp and look at the political implications of their retreat.

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or
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WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Buy the official Napoleon 101 podcast t-shirt or coffee mug!

Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #23 - The Road To Moscow

Cameron — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 08:08:09 +0000

In this episode we explore the political events that resulted in Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, the tragedy that formed the central events of Tolstoy’s War and Peace and which saw Napoleon raise the largest army in history up until that time, 500,000 - 700,000 men (historians vary on exactly how many there were).

Napoleon is often accused of being the instigator of this war (something Tolstoy, a Russian, was happy to suggest) but David and I examine the facts behind this perspective.

While this is a tragic and deeply moving period of Napoleonic history, it is also one of the most fascinating, both from a military and a humanist perspective.

Perhaps the best graphical representation of this unfortunate episode (or, in fact, one of the greatest use of informational graphics ever) is this image by French engineer Charles Minard:

Edward Tufte called it “the best statistical graphic ever drawn” and uses it as a prime example in The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. (source)

PRESS PLAY
or
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Buy the official Napoleon 101 podcast t-shirt or coffee mug!

Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

1815 Battle of Waterloo reenactment draws thousands

Cameron — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:10:29 +0000

This story from the St Paul Tribune in Minnesota tells about a recent reenactment of the Battle Of Waterloo held on the site of the actual battle in Belgium:

History buffs from Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland and elsewhere said the Waterloo commemoration is one of the most important events on their calendars. The actual anniversary of the battle was Monday but the event was on the weekend.

Napoleon’s Marengo sword sold

Cameron — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 06:36:37 +0000

The sword was carried by Napoleon â€” who was not yet emperor â€” into the battle of Marengo in June 1800, when he launched a surprise attack to push the Austrian army from Italy and seal France’s victory, sold Sunday for more than $6.4 million, an auction house said.

Read the full details here.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #22 - Au Revoir Josphine, Bonjour Marie-Louise and the King of Rome!

Cameron — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 01:04:12 +0000

Welcome back! It’s been a long time between episodes. To celebrate our return, we have a very special guest co-host - Prof. Bob Packett from “History According To Bob”! Bob is the Godfather of History podcasting. It was his show that gave me the idea to start our little Napoleon podcast and we’re very excited about having him join us. If you have never listened to his show, we highly recommend it.

In this episode we cover some of the events that happened in Napoleon’s private life during the peace that lasted from Wagram in 1809 until The Sixth Coalition in 1812, including:

Josephine

His attempts to wed Tsar Alexander’s sister Anna

Marie-Louise

The birth of his first legitimate son known as the King of Rome aka Napoleon II

At the end of the show we have provided a suggested bibliography for this period, thanks to a suggestion from listener Jackm over on the forums.

PRESS PLAY
or
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

Buy a Napoleon 101 t-shirt from our online store!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

The Napoleon Podcast t-shirt

Cameron — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 01:23:22 +0000

You know you want one!

Buy yours today and support the show!

Help us out

Cameron — Thu, 31 May 2007 18:26:18 +0000

Help us out by going over to Digg and “digging” the show. It will only take a few minutes of your time!

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!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #021 - The War Of The Fifth Coalition

Cameron — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:37:36 +0000

UPDATE: David pointed out that around the 40 minute mark there is a silence that lasts about 15 seconds. I must have muted the wrong bit when I was editing it. I’ll fix that asap and re-upload it.

UPDATE #2: Okay new version of the mp3 is up, hopefully everything now working as it should.

In 1809, Austria decided to break the peace treaty they had signed after Austerlitz in 1807 and this lead to The War Of The Fifth Coalition. In this episode we discuss the events leading up to Austria’s attack and Napoleon’s response. The war ended with the Battle of Wagram, Napoleonic France’s last decisive military victory.

The War Of The Fifth Coalition (with lots of campaign maps)

I have a favour to ask - it would really help the continued success of the show if each of you would go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

Napoleone Buonoparte d. 5 May, 1821

Cameron — Fri, 04 May 2007 20:43:28 +0000

Mike reminds us that today, May 5, is the anniversary of Napoleon’s untimely death on St Helena in 1821 at the age of 52. Whether he died of natural causes or through the malfeasance of the Bourbons, we can be sure that he would have preferred to have met his end on the battlefield although that wouldn’t have allowed him to spend his last years writing his version of history.

If you happen to be in Paris, a solemn mass will be celebrated in his memory and the soldiers of the Grande ArmÃ©e at Les Invalides at 11am. Details here. If you go, please write us a report. Amongst those present will be S.A.I. the Princess NapolÃ©on, General H. Gobilliard, governor of Les Invalides and Brigadier General R. Bresse, director of the MusÃ©e de l’ArmÃ©e.

In other Napoleon related news today:

There is a new book out on Wellington that sounds interesting. According to this review of “Dancing into Battle: A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo” (Nick Foulkes), “the handsome Wellington spent most of his day dallying with well-born young ladies and the young wives of titled Englishmen, pleasuring them in a carriage screened by the trees of Brussels’s still-lovely park. Almost every evening he gave an expensive ball. He made a point of attending the ball given by the Duchess of Richmond on the eve of the battle, but it was a mixed bag of an evening, as officers kept disappearing to join their regiments. In the days before Waterloo, Wellington forestalled a general tendency to panic by always appearing incredibly nonchalant, not to say cool. His insouciance, a word thoroughly overworked by author Foulkes, was evidently worth at least another 50,000 men.”

The British army wasn’t a meritocracy like the French:
“With the exception of the artillery, all the officers in Wellington’s army had purchased their expensive commissions. Their promotion and higher pay depended in great part on casualties among the more senior ranks.”

The book also describes how the battle changed Wellington, who dropped his cool exterior afterwards. “The victorious Wellington was a changed man. Though used to battle, the carnage at Waterloo appalled him. The mask of insouciance was dropped. With it too went the worship of glory, at least for a long moment.”

There is also a review from the Tribeca Film Festival on the new film “Napoleon and Me”.

“Virzi’s film, which is a mixture of soft comedy and emotional soapboxing about ideals like freedom and honor, focuses on a brief period at the end of the Napoleonic Wars when the vanquished French emperor was sent into exile on the tiny Italian island of Elba.

“If this were Variety, I would point out that pic’s best chance to do well with auds is the inclusion of Monica Bellucci in a prominent role as a baroness floozy who is anxious over turning 40 and aggressively courts 20-something men like Martino who will remind her of how beautiful she is.”

“As Napoleon, French acting legend Daniel Auteuil is more than credible, walking a foot shorter but somehow more imposing than the bodyguards and hangers-on who follow his every step around the island. Auteuil gives a careful, ambitious performance, but the screenplay to let that performance fly is not really in place.”

Finally, Empress Josephine at the Hermitage:

“The famous Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg will open on the 28th of June 2007 a fascinating exhibition, presenting the rich collection assembled by the Empress Josephine at her chateau Malmaison. Many of the works which she cherished - some of those have been chosen for the Hermitage exhibition - were actually gifts from Napoleon, who had acquired them during his military campaigns in Europe. After the Empress’ death, the bulk of the collection, mainly paintings and sculptures, was bought by Tsar Alexander I and later brought to St Petersburg, where it was installed in the Winter Palace.”

Napoleon at Waterloo

cameron — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 13:41:32 +0000

Napoleon

Originally uploaded by jables80.

Waterloo Battlefield just outside of Waterloo, Belgium.

A Shout Out to Elliott Nowacky!

Cameron — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:54:17 +0000

Elliott is a listener to the show who recently visited Jena and Leipzig and was thoughtful enough to snail-mail David and I some memorabilia from there! I haven’t had the chance to visit these regions yet so these are terrific additions to my Napoleonic collection (and more stuff for my wife to roll her eyes about). Thanks very much Elliott!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #20 - The Peninsula War (Part Two)

Cameron — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:07:56 +0000

Welcome to the dramatic conclusion to the Peninsular War! It’s a long episode, possibly our longest, but we were determined to conclude this affair today!

In episode #19 we gave you some background on how Napoleon ended up in the Iberian peninsula. Today we pick it up from about the time Joseph was made the King of Spain.

Of course, in discussing Spain we also introduce someone whose story is forever associated with Napoleon’s - Sir Arthur Wellesley, aka the Duke of Wellington. It was during the Peninsula War that their fates first became entwined.

Additional Resources:

The Peninsula War

Map of the Iberian Peninsula

The Continental System

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!

PRESS PLAY
or
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

Napoleon’s hat

Cameron — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 00:24:05 +0000

Pascal from Berlin asked:

“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!

Napoleon et Monica

Cameron — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:48:10 +0000

It’s almost enough to make me believe in God. A new Napoleon film comes out. And it stars Monica Belluci. What more could I ever ask for??? (Okay, apart from actually getting to meet Monica…).

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).

“Napoleon VII” In Fontainebleau

Cameron — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:27:52 +0000

I was just reading this story about how His Imperial Highness Charles Napoleon, great-great-grandson of Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Jerome, King of Westphalia, is standing for parliament in Fontainebleau. I had to smile at this line:

Incredibly, Mr Napoleon is also 1,120th in line to the British throne, thanks to the marriage in 1807 between Jerome Bonaparte and German princess Katherine of Wurttemberg.

Imagine - a Napoleon on the throne of England. How hard could it be to make 1119 people disappear?

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #19 - The Peninsula War (Part One)

Cameron — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 05:12:12 +0000

After the Battle Of Trafalgar (1805), the relationship between Spain (which had previously declared war on France in 1793 and then an alliance in 1795) and France soured.

In 1807, Spain was in turmoil, due to infighting between their disinterested Bourbon king Charles IV, his son Ferdinand and the Spanish Prime Minister (also the not-so-secret lover of Queen Marie Louisa), Manuel de Godoy. They turned to Napoleon for assistance to sort out their affairs. Already having occupied Portugal (because they refused to join the Continental System) Napoleon moved his forces into Madrid.

He didn’t count on one thing - the Spanish peasants. The resulting war is where the term “guerrilla” warfare was invented (guerra in Spanish means war and -illa means small - i.e. guerrilla warfare is fought with small, insurgent troops instead of large traditional armies).

The Second of May, 1808: The Charge of the Mamelukes, by Francisco de Goya (1814).

The Peninsular War saw an alliance of Spain, Portugal, and Britain battle the French Empire for control of the Iberian Peninsula. It lasted from 1808 until Napoleon’s first abdication in 1814. In this episode we provide an introduction and some background to the war.

Additional Resources:

The Peninsula War

Map of the Iberian Peninsula

The Continental System

PRESS PLAY
or
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

Vive l’Empereur Flickr Group

Cameron — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:37:22 +0000

I’ve just discovered a Flcikr Group dedicated to Napoleonic images! Check it out.

And goodbye, Napoleon’s house

cameron — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:35:40 +0000

And goodbye, Napoleon’s house

Originally uploaded by bootsintheoven.

Statue de Napoleon

cameron — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:34:21 +0000

Statue de Napoleon

Originally uploaded by shandara.

dangerous position

cameron — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:33:54 +0000

dangerous position

Originally uploaded by omnia_mutantur.

Napoleon

cameron — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:32:53 +0000

Napoleon

Originally uploaded by shandara.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #18 - The Battle Of Trafalgar

Cameron — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:10:47 +0000

Welcome to the tragic Episode 18 of the Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast here on The Podcast Network.

Once again, David and I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful feedback and comments we have received since the last episode. We both really appreciate it and it’s added motivation to keep producing the show although, as you know, we have so much fun being Napoleon geeks together that the entire British navy couldn’t keep us away!

Speaking of the British navy…. this episode is about the Battle Of Trafalgar.

On 21 October 1805, the French navy under the command of Villeneuve met disaster against the British navy under the command of Horatio Nelson at Cape Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain, in what is known as The Battle Of Trafalgar

To get a good idea of what naval battles in the early 19th century must have been like, we both recommend watching the 2003 film by Australian director Peter Weir,
Master And Commander.

PRESS PLAY
or
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.

The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!

The Napoleon Podcast gets a mention in USA TODAY

Cameron — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 06:19:19 +0000

My co-host, the right honourable J. David Markham, did an interview recently with a journalist from USA TODAY and as a result our little show got a small mention in a bigger article about podcasting. Of course, they named the show incorrectly and didn’t link to it in the online article, but it’s still nice of them.

Here’s an online copy of the article.

PAHLAVI MEETS NAPOLEON AT EGYPT EXPO IN PARIS

Cameron — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 03:35:35 +0000

Here’s an interesting story:

At an exhibition in Parisâ€™ Grand Palais entitled Les TrÃ©sors Engloutis Dâ€™Egypt aka The Sunken Treasures of Egypt, there was a meeting between two representatives of the former Imperial Houses of France and Persia: HIH Princess Napoleon Bonaparte and HIM Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi of Iran. The Former reigning Empress of Iran and the descendant of the French Emperor were the VIP visitors of this exhibition that opened on December 9th 2006.

I confess to not being entirely sure who HIH Princess Napoleon Bonaparte actually is. Judging by the photograph, I am guessing she is either the twin sister, ex-wife or current wife of Charles Napoleon Bonaparte, aka Napoleon VII. Can anyone clarify that?

Napoleon slideshow

Cameron — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 11:30:18 +0000

Here’s a nifty little slideshow of some of the Napoleonic images we’ve posted on our Flickr site over the last year. If you have Napoleonic pictures, feel free to add them to our Flickr group here.

A listener’s story: Gavin from Vancouver

Cameron — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 03:59:50 +0000

One of the things that I love the most about doing this show is the community of new Napoleon enthusiasts that has built up around it. David and I are constantly getting emails like this one from Gavin O’Sullivan in Vancouver:

Dear Cameron and David,

My name is Gavin O’Sullivan.
I’m a letter-carrier living in Vancouver B.C., and around xmas time i picked up the lovely little invention called an ipod.
I must say it entertains me through the day whether listening to songs, books, or podcasts…….which brings me to your Napoleon Podcast.

As mentioned by you Cameron, growing up in a commonwealth country my knowledge of Napoleon was that he was a “tyrant”, or a “little Hitler”.
How my knowledge has grown with the help of your podcast.

I’ve always been interested in military history whether it be the American Civil war, Vietnam conflict, Roman , or WW1, WW2.
My parents grew up in London, England and lived through the blitz. so in some way my interest in human conflict had been instilled.

Your podcasts have entertained, intrigued, and informed me.
I truly feel that you guys are like my old buddies when i listen for your obvious enthusiasm, and friendship comes through in spades.
Even the episode when you guys finally met was brilliant, where i tend to think David’s supply of olde medicine was opened with a fervor.

So around your your 15th 16th podcast, i was at a thrift store mucking around for odds and sods, when in the corner of my eye i spot this huge pic of Mr. Bonaparte.
So after haggling down to a $4.00…..price tag…..i walked out of there with a wicked poster of Napolean which is now up in my living room.(see attached pic)

I do truly look forward to your next podcast, and i am spreading the word as much as I can.
I would help you guys out anyway i can, and think that podcasts will only grow with mates such as you blabbering about on the airwaves……haha.
My vote for your next one would be a Ceasar. or American Civil War.

Keep up the good work,

your fan

Gavin

Nice haggling Gavin! How about you come over here when I attend my next house auction?

Please keep sending us your Napoleon stories folks! After sitting here getting inspired in solitude by Napoleonic stories over the years, I’m really thrilled to see this show helping others find a passion for the subject.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #17 - The Battle of Friedland and the Treaty of Tilsit

Cameron — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:54:20 +0000

On this marvelous 17th episode, recorded almost 200 years after the actual events occurred, we examine the final months of the “Fourth Coalition” leading up to the “Treaty of Tilsit”.

Russian forces, lead by Count von Bennigsen, were crushed by Napoleon’s army at Friedland on June 14, 1807.

Three days later Russia asked for a truce. By the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, France made peace with Russia and forced Prussia to give up half of its territory to France, Jerome Bonaparte’s Kingdom of Westphalia, and the new Duchy of Warsaw.

Napoleon was virtually in control of western and central Europe. Some historians consider Tilsit to represent the pinnacle of Napoleon’s career. He had conquered all of mainland Europe and secured peace for France. Unfortunately, it was to prove short-lived.

We also talk briefly about Talleyrand’s resignation from his position of Minster of Foreign Affairs after Tilsit and hint at his role as a traitor to France (or was it just to Napoleon?) in the years to come.

Next episode - The Battle of Trafalgar!

If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:

Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
If you use iTunes, click here.
If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.

The theme music is La Marseillaise.

1894 Introduction from Stoddard’s “Napoleon: From Corsica to St. Helena”

Cameron — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:18:43 +0000

Today I received by courier an exquisite book from 1894 with 330 reproductions of famous paintings pertaining to Napoleon, his battles, life and times. Each reproduced painting has a description below penned by John L. Stoddard. There is no way to accurately reflect how fabulous this book truly is. An unsurpassed record of historical paintings relating to Napoleon Bonaparte.

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.
—————–

NAPOLEONâ€™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, Napoleonâ€™s dramatic deeds,â€”such as his duel with united Europe, his farewell to the Imperial Guard atÂ Fontainebleau, his marvelous return from Elba,â€”the stroke of Destiny at Waterloo, and the wild death-scene on the tempest-beaten rock of St. Helena,â€”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 Bonaparteâ€™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,â€”â€ To be great is to be misunderstood.â€ Even the founders of the worldâ€™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 â€œGrand old Man,â€ 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 nationâ€™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 â€œNapoleon the Little.â€ 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 ,â€”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 Napoleonâ€™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 fatherâ€™s heart to have a son to follow him in a career of glory, he chose at first his brotherâ€™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, Napoleonâ€™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 oâ€™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 Napoleonâ€™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 lightningâ€™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 Napoleonâ€™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 â€”

NAPOLEON.

Napoleonic Lessons for Google and Microsoft

Cameron — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 01:33:52 +0000

A friend of mine at Microsoft just sent me this article by Jawad Shuaib on Napoleonic Lessons for Google and Microsoft. I’m not sure how relevant the analogy of Napoleon is to either company, but it makes interesting reading. As an ex-Microsoft employee and a current Microsoft shareholder, I’ve often wondered how the lessons of Napoleon apply to them. I even toyed with writing a book about it a few years ago. I did hear on the internal Microsoft grapevine a few times over the years that their CEO, Steve Ballmer, has an interest in Napoleonic history. As he lives an hour away from David, I think we should get him onto the show sometime.

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 Googleâ€™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. Napoleonâ€™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 Microsoftâ€™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.

Dies Irae

cameron — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:40:13 +0000

Dies Irae

Originally uploaded by Manuperez.

Subscribe to the show via email

Cameron — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:09:19 +0000

If you want to make sure you never miss an episode of The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast and you haven’t quite figured out how all of this RSS-stuff works yet, have no fear! Email is here! By clicking on the link below you can have the latest blog posts and podcast links (just the link to the show, not the actual mp3 file) emailed to you everytime we update the site!
Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email

Do We Have A Bias?

Cameron — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 23:23:17 +0000

You bet! We are fans of Napoleon. No doubt about it.
I think you’ll find our opinions on the show are just that - opinions! We have never claimed to be bias free. This ain’t the BBC.

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.

Napoleon statue @ Il Duce

cameron — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 06:06:14 +0000

Napoleon statue @ Il Duce

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #16 - Eylau, Poland and Maria Walewska

Cameron — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 21:58:44 +0000

After Napoleon completely crushed the Prussians at Jena-Auerstedt, Europe was in shock. Back home in Paris, some were concerned that Napoleon’s continued success might blind him to opportunities for peace. Meanwhile, Russia’s Czar Alexander had his armies advance on Warsaw, forcing Napoleon to march to meet them. Early in 1807, he fought an extremely bloody but inconclusive battle at Eylau. He also spent time in Warsaw with the other great love of his life - the very young Maria Walewska.

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By the way, I screwed up the audio on this show yet again. I think my mic was up too high, picking up too much background noise and making it difficult to raise David’s audio without the background buzz coming up as well. I’ll try hard to get improve it before the next episode!

Don’t forget - we really value your feedback and comments (even the hate mail I got last week) and would love to have you participate in the conversation by any of the following methods:

Leave us an audio message!
Create a discussion on any subject in our Napoleon Bonaparte forum!
or of course you can leave us feedback or ask questions in the comments section below!

Mystery of Napoleon’s Death Said Solved

Cameron — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 04:10:35 +0000

A friend sent me this link to Yahoo News this morning. It seems that every year there is a new story from a research group somewhere saying they have the definitive answer on what Napoleon died from. As most of you will already know, David’s good friend Ben Weider co-authored a book, The Murder Of Napoleon, with Sten Forshufvud several years ago which put forward evidence to support the theory that Napoleon was murdered with arsenic by someone in his household on St Helena. Now a new study published in Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology has concluded that stomach cancer was the cause of death.

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.

Music of the Napoleonic Era

Cameron — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:43:30 +0000

I discovered this album by accident this morning. It’s a shame more of these tracks aren’t available for download or I’d start putting them into the show. You can listen to short previews of each track though and download the one below for free. Click on the album art for more information.

Download “Divertimento In B Flat Major K 229 No. 2″ (mp3)
from “Music of the Napoleonic Era”
by Capella Ensemble
Inside Sounds

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Buy at GroupieTunes
Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #15 - The Battle of Jena-Auerstedt

cameron — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 09:24:48 +0000

The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt (older name: AuerstÃ¤dt) were fought on October 14, 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today’s Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia. The decisive defeat suffered by the Prussian army resulted in Prussia’s elimination from the anti-French coalition up until the liberation war of 1813.

Some links to topics discussed on this episode:

Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
The Confederation of the Rhine
and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire
Queen Louise of Prussia
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte

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David has provided the following photos of objects from his collection which provide a pictorial dimension to this episode:

Vive Le Empereur!

cameron — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 15:00:19 +0000

Today, 2 December 2006, is the 202nd anniversary of Napoleon’s Coronation as Emperor Of The French and the 200th anniversary of the Battle Of Austerlitz. Vive Le Empereur!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Show #14 - The Sun of Austerlitz

cameron — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 08:02:07 +0000

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The Battle of Austerlitz (also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors) was a major engagement in the Napoleonic Wars during the War of the Third Coalition. It was fought on December 2, 1805 about four miles (6.4 km) east of the modern Czech town of Brno, then part of the Austrian Empire. The conflict involved forces of the recently formed First French Empire against the armies of the Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire. After nearly nine hours of fighting, the French troops, commanded by Emperor Napoleon I, managed to score a decisive victory over the Russo-Austrian army, commanded by Czar Alexander I. Despite difficult fighting in many sectors, the battle is often regarded as a tactical masterpiece.

Austerlitz effectively brought the Third Coalition to an end.

Some photos of David’s collection that relate to Austerlitz.

Link to the map of the deployment of battalions

Link to the map of the battlefield about 1400 hours

Here’s the entire text of the famous Bulletin issues by Napoleon Bonaparte on the day after the battle, which you can find in David’s book “Imperial Glory” (link below):

Proclamation
Headquarters at Austerlitz
3 December 1805

Soldiers! I am pleased with you. On the day of Austerlitz, you have justified what I expected from your intrepidity. You have decorated your eagles with an immortal glory. In less than four hours an army of 100,000 men, commanded by the Emperors of Russia and Austria, has been cut down or dispersed. Those who escaped your iron have drowned in the lakes. Forty flags, the standards of the Russian Imperial Guard, 120 pieces of cannon, twenty generals and more than 30,000 prisoners are the results of this day, to be celebrated forever. That infantry, so vaunted, and superior to you in numbers, could not resist your impact, and henceforth you have no rivals to fear. Thus, in two months the third coalition is conquered and dissolved. Peace can no longer be at a great distance; but, as I promised to my people before crossing the Rhine, I will only make a peace that gives you some guarantees and assures some recompenses to our allies. Soldiers! When the French people placed the Imperial Crown on my head, I entrusted you to keep it always in a high state of glory, which alone could give it value in my eyes; but at that moment our enemies thought to destroy and demean it; and that Iron crown, which was gained by the blood of so many Frenchmen, they would have compelled me to place on the head of our cruelest enemies; an extravagant and foolish proposal, which you have ruined and confounded the very day of the anniversary of your Emperorâ€™s coronation. You have taught them that it is easier for them to defy us and to threaten us than to vanquish us. Soldiers! When everything necessary to the happiness and prosperity of our country will have been achieved, I will lead you back to France. There you will be the objects of my most tender solicitudes. My people will see you again with joy, and it will be enough for you to say: â€œI was at the battle of Austerlitz,â€ for them to reply, â€œThere is a brave man!â€

Napoleon Bonaparte

David asked me bring to your attention a History Channel DVD that has a segment on Austerlitz. He was one of the featured historians. It also has Caesarâ€™s campaign in Gaul, and he was one of the featured historians on that segment as well.

Don’t forget - we really value your feedback and comments and would love to have you participate in the conversation by any of the following methods:

Leave us an audio message!
Create a discussion on any subject in our Napoleon Bonaparte forum!
or of course you can leave us feedback or ask questions in the comments section below!

Cameron Reilly, Barbara Markham, David Markham

cameron — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 19:06:58 +0000

Cameron, Barbara, David

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly.

The Rothschild Family and the Napoleonic Wars

cameron — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 08:48:29 +0000

On the last show I briefly mentioned that I had read about various banking families of Europe who profited from the Napoleonic Wars. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the Rothschild Family:

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.

Cameron & David in San Francisco

cameron — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 07:42:27 +0000

Cameron & David 2

Originally uploaded by cameronreilly.

Here’s a snap of David and I after our recording session in San Francisco, November 2006.

The Campaigns of Napoleon DVD

cameron — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:43:49 +0000

Has anyone seen The Campaigns of Napoleon DVD pack? It looks like it came out a few months ago but there don’t seem to be any reviews for it on Amazon.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #13 - The War of the Third Coalition

cameron — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 17:36:05 +0000

dowload link

This episode is pretty special - David and I recorded it sitting together, in the same hotel room, same city, same country and, as David likes to point out, on the same day (usually weâ€™re in completely different timezones). As we were both in a strange city (San Francisco) and didnâ€™t have access to our usual reference materials, we did a short show (for us thatâ€™s under an hour!) looking at the Third Coalition and the build up to Austerlitz. We cut the show before we covered Austerlitz though because we want to spend some time on it and have all of our books around us! It was Napoleonâ€™s favourite victory and possibly the peak of his military achievments.

In the Napoleonic Wars, the Third Coalition against the French Empire emerged in 1805 and consisted of an alliance of the United Kingdom, Austria, Russia, Naples, and Sweden.

In this episode we discuss:

the motivation for the creation of the Third Coalition
the creation of â€œLa Grande Armeeâ€ and Marshals Of The Empire
â€œthe unfortunate General Mackâ€ and the taking of Ulm
the capture of Vienna

Thank again for all of the feedback, debate and discussion happening in the comments section and in the TPN forum. David and I both really enjoy being able to discuss Napoleon with you and appreciate that you keep coming back!

(photo of Arc de Triomphe detail by zakw845)

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #12 - Emperor of the French

cameron — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 07:28:06 +0000

Download NAPOLEON #12

Napoleon crowned himself “Emperor Of The French” (as opposed to “Emperor of France”, an important distinction) on 2 December 1804 at Notre Dame de Paris. In this episode, we discuss in detail the events leading up to the Coronation, the reasons for it, the arguments against it, the actual coronation itself, and the reaction to it in France. We also discuss why Napoleon’s mother didn’t attend and why Pope Pius VII left early.

As always, David and I had a lot of fun producing this show and we hope you enjoy it. We would really love it if youâ€™d let us know if youâ€™re enjoying the show by leaving a comment here and please feel free to ask any questions over at our new Napoleon forum.

click on the image for high resolution

cameron — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 04:48:25 +0000

Originally uploaded by OllieD.

Romeo, Juliette and Napoleon

cameron — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 23:51:09 +0000

Romeo, Juliette and Napoleon

Originally uploaded by Arnold Pouteau’s.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #11 - Peace With Britian

cameron — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 06:18:05 +0000

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After the signing of The Treaty of Luneville in February 1801, France was at peace with every country in Europe. Only Britian stood in the way of a total peace. Listen in as JDM and I discuss some of the key events of the following period:

William Pitt had been replaced briefly by Henry Addington as Prime Minister of Britian
The impact of the assassination of Tsar Paul I of Russia in March 1801
Nelson’s destruction of the Danish fleet at Copenhagen ends Napoleon’s idea of invading England via Ireland
The reasons behind the Treaty of Amiens which was signed in March 1802
The terms of Amiens
Bonaparte made First Consul For Life, August 1802
The “infernal machine” and the trial of the Duc D’Enghien
Why Amiens failed
Britian declares war on France, May 1803

David and I would like to sincerely thank the thousands of listeners who tuned in since our last episode and a special thanks to those of you who have left us some feedback. Please keep it up! It warms the cockles of our hearts to hear that you are being entertained and even in some cases educated.

Napoleon at Cherbourg

cameron — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 23:57:18 +0000

Cherbourg02.JPG

Originally uploaded by aurensfromarabia.

Cherbourg-Octeville is a town and commune in Normandy, north-west France.

David and I will be recording a new episode next week folks, so please stay tuned! We will be covering the tentative peace Napoleon signed with England known as the Treaty of Amiens, how it all fell apart, and why Napoleon developed The Continental System.

Butte du Lion (The Lions Mound)

cameron — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 21:32:17 +0000

Belle Alliance II

Originally uploaded by hotnacho.

Monument Memorial where Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo.
Legend has it that the Lion was cast from the bronze of the weapons the French left behind on the battlefield.
The tungsten lights that form the orange glow are from a highway.
Mont St. Jean / Waterloo, Belgium

The Grey Riding Coat

cameron — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 21:29:24 +0000

Little man in a bi-ig coat . . .

Originally uploaded by batgirlsuz.

Imagine how the simple grey redingcote and unadorned black bicorne, with the relatively modest dark green coat of the undress of a mere Colonel of the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Guard, made the Emperor stand out against the gold embroidery and swans feathers of his marshals, or the overblown flamboyance of Murat.
(quote from Ancient Rome Forums)

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #10 - The Battle of Marengo

cameron — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:56:54 +0000

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In this episode we explore First Consul Bonaparte’s failed attempts to make peace with the Kings of England and Austria after he took power in 1799 and the subsequent French campaign into Italy to regain the territory lost to the Austrians since Napoleon’s original Italian campaign.

We also cover:

The famous Jacques-Louis David painting of Napoleon Crossing The Alps
The revisionist (and more realistic) painting of the same journey by Paul Delaroche
The Battle Of Marengo, where Napoleon narrowly, but comprehensively, routed the Austrians
By the way, here’s a great link to a bicentennial review of the Battle of Marengo
Here’s the uniform Bonaparte wore at Marengo from that bicentennial site (on display at Les Invalides in Paris)
And we also get slightly side-tracked (my fault!) and talk about some great Napoleonic films, including “Waterloo” (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1970) and “Napoleon” (Abel Gance, 1927).

As always, David and I had a lot of fun producing this show and we hope you enjoy it. Thanks to everyone who has left comments recently and please keep them coming! Also feel free to ask any questions over at our new Napoleon forum.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #9 - Domestic Affairs

cameron — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 07:46:35 +0000

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In 1799, when Napoleon became First Consul of France, he started a series of important domestic reforms which were revolutionary in Europe, many of which survive to this day. In this episode, we depart from Napoleon’s military triumphs and demonstrate a less-appreciated aspect of his career - his genius for domestic affairs.

We talk about:

The Code Napoleon
The Legion of Honour
The Bank of France and the economy
Public education
The Amnesty for the Emigres
and the Concordat with the Catholic Church

As always, David and I had a lot of fun producing this show and we hope you enjoy it. We would really love it if you’d let us know if you’re enjoying the show by leaving a comment here and please feel free to ask any questions over at our new Napoleon forum.

Waterloo 2006

cameron — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 11:19:50 +0000

If you’re interested in seeing what the field of Waterloo looks like circa July 2006, check out this great series of photos.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #8 - The Coup of 18 Brumaire

cameron — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:36:37 +0000

(mp3 - 31Mb - 45mins)

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When we last left Napoleon he was leaving Egypt in the middle of the night to sail quickly back to a corrupt and floundering Paris. In this episode, we talk about:

the corruption of the Directory
the various plots to overthrow the Revolutionary Government
Napoleon’s failed attempt to legitimately join the Directory to save it
Sieyes’ approach to Napoleon to join his plot for a coup
Napoleon’s speeches to The Council of Ancients, The Council of Five Hundred, and the eventual coup

And when we leave Napoleon in this episode he is, at the ripe old age of 30, the most powerful man in France.

In our next episode, we’ll talk about the new Constitution of the Year VIII, the Concordat with the Pope, and the drafting of the Civil Code aka the Code Napoleon.
Please leave us comments on the show and you can now leave us AUDIO comments by clicking on this image:

And because too much discussion about Napoleon is never enough, don’t forget to pop by our new forum for discussion about all things Napoleon. Feel free to ask any questions you like and David and I will do out best to answer them in a timely fashion!

The Dahesh Museum’s Napoleon podcast

cameron — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 02:41:17 +0000

As you may have heard on our Egypt podcast, some of David’s personal collection is currently on display at The Dahesh Museum of Art exhibit Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt. The museum also has their very first Podcast featuring Bob Brier, Ph.D., renowned Egyptologist and host of the TLC series The Great Egyptians. Check it out here.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #7 - The Egyptian Campaign

cameron — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 10:26:15 +0000

(mp3 - 31Mb - 90mins)

Download And Save
Is it just me or are these shows gradually getting longer?

When we last left Napoleon, he had concluded the Italian Campaign with the treaty of Campo Formio and was a national hero. In this episode we talk about the Egyptian Campaign of 1798-99:

Too soon for his political move in France
The invasion of England postponed
In the footsteps of Alexander, off to Egypt!
Taking and re-making Malta
Reading the Qu’ran
The Rosetta Stone
The Battle of the Pyramids
The Battle of the Nile
Talleyrand’s Betrayal (the first of many)
Into Syria (Israel)
The Battles of Acre, Jaffa, Aboukir
The execution of prisoners
The sudden return to France!

In our next episode, we will watch with bated breath as Napoleon executes the coup of 18 Brumaire and becomes 1st Consul of France!

Please leave us comments on the show and you can now leave us AUDIO comments by clicking on this image:

And because too much discussion about Napoleon is never enough, I have set up a new forum for discussion about all things Napoleon here. Feel free to ask any questions you like and David and I will do out best to answer them in a timely fashion!

Napoleon on top of the men’s room

cameron — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:35:20 +0000

Hsinchu Â· Guqifeng

Originally uploaded by jlin45d.

Oh this is a classic!

A Short Delay… with Maps!

cameron — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 15:44:47 +0000

Our apologies folks. Unfortunately David has had to take an unscheduled trip out of town for a few weeks and it has meant delaying the next show. The Pyramids will have to wait another couple of weeks. Until then, I discovered this site tonight which I thought I’d share with you: The Napoleon Series Military Map Archive. It includes many high resolution scans of maps covering the better-known campaigns of Napoleon’s career. Enjoy and we’ll be back with you soon!

Les Invalides

cameron — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 06:04:57 +0000

Les Invalides

Originally uploaded by cbonney.

Malmaison

cameron — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 00:48:32 +0000

DSC07580

Originally uploaded by Guillaume Laforge.

I’ve been here. Terrific experience. I highly recommend it if you’re going to Paris. It’s out in the ‘burbs, a few bus trips out of the CBD, but amazing to walk the halls and grounds of La Malmaison and think about what took place there.

De kroning van Napoleon

cameron — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:42:23 +0000

De kroning van Napoleon

Originally uploaded by Antoon’s Foobar.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #6 - The Army of Italy (part two)

cameron — Tue, 23 May 2006 05:56:06 +0000

(mp3 - 26Mb - 73mins)

Download And Save
When we last left Napoleon, he had taken the helm of the Army of Italy and was proving his brilliance in matters of strategy and tactics. In this episode we dicuss:

The Battle of Lodi
The Kellerman incident
The Bridge over Arcola
The Papal States
The Battle of Rivoli
The Treaty of Campo Formio
Napoleon’s role in the future Unification of Italy
Josephine’s behaviour while he on campaign

In our next episode, we will follow Napoleon as he enters Egypt!

Please leave us comments on the show and you can now leave us AUDIO comments by clicking on this image:

national-Nappe

cameron — Mon, 22 May 2006 13:25:40 +0000

national-Nappe

Originally uploaded by syrtveit.

cameron — Mon, 22 May 2006 13:24:07 +0000

Originally uploaded by limvirak.

cameron — Mon, 22 May 2006 13:23:54 +0000

Originally uploaded by olia717.

cameron — Fri, 12 May 2006 01:50:36 +0000

Originally uploaded by philippe brevet.

TPN :: Napoleon 1O1

Photos from INS Montreal 2009

Napoleon rides again

A quick way to get to all of our show archives

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #53 - Alex Mikaberidze part 4

The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution

American Appointed Légion d’Honneur

Inside a First Empire Style Mansion

Napoleon’s Fictional Romance Novel Published In English!

Where To Buy A Napoleon Hat

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #52 - Alex Mikaberidze on The Russian Generals

Buy The First Ten Episodes of Napoleon 101 on DVD

Join The TPN 500

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast 51 - Alex Mikaberidze on The Burning of Moscow

Finally - Julius Caesar

The Artist-as-Napoleon

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast 50 - Guest Alex Mikaberidze on Napoleon and Alexander

We Need Your Help

President Markham Joins Twitter!

Napoleon on Twitter

News and Apologies

Nicholas Stark Needs Your Help

The Napoleon Apron!

Kubrick’s Napoleon screenplay

Ralph Waldo Emerson on Napoleon

A plug for the Napoleon shop!

Check out our new features!

Cameron Is Available For Hire… and Needs Your Help

Napoleon at the Bridge of the Arcole

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #49 - Michael Kroger

Happy Birthday El Presidente!

Napoleon’s Trip to St Helena - The Weekly Aurora

TPN Server Issues

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #48 - Rafe Blaufarb

Charlemagne

NAP 01

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #47 - Louis Davout, The Iron Marshal

David Markham’s Letter Regarding INS

Napoleon’s Chess Games

A New President!

Please Support the TPN Pledge Drive

Iced Earth - “Waterloo”

Napoleon CD competition - Entry #1

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #46 - In Memory of Ben Weider

Ben Weider RIP

Was King Arthur Real?

Unique Napoleonic Gifts

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #45 - La Mort de Napoleon

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #44 - The Murder Of Napoleon

Napoleon to Alexander

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #43 - Sir Hudson Lowe

My Photo in Schmap Paris Guide!

Interminable Delays!

Le Chapeau

Nicholas Starkâ€™s Weblog

Some photos from Paris!

â€œLes Cent Jours De Napoleonâ€ - The Musical!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #42 - The Prisoner of Longwood

Coming to Paris in July

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #41 - The Lion Roars

Napoleon’s #1 fan - age 7

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #40 - The Road to St Helena

Some Photos From A Listener

A new Biography Show is out!

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #39 - Au Revoir France!

Napoleon manga

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #38 - Napoleon’s Options

Paris 2008 Map

My Napoleon Library on Shelfari

Napoleon invented the computer?

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #37 - Fouche’s Machiavellian Machinations

The Biography Show #001 - Alexander The Great

Paris accommodation

Audio Feed vs Video Feed

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #36 (Video) - The End Of The Empire

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #36 (Audio) - The End Of The Empire

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #35 - After Waterloo

The Waterloo Drum

Campfires Of Napoleon

Happy Birthday J. David Markham!

â€œLes Cent Jours De Napoleonâ€ - The Musical!