Author: Lancelot Charles Lee Publisher: Arthur H. Stockwell ISBN: 9780722341520 Category : Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 Languages : en Pages : 112
Book Description
The letters in this book paint a vivid and colourful picture of the life of the detenus of the Napoleonic Wars, and of Lee's state of mind during this long separation from his family and friends."
Author: Frank Giles Publisher: Constable & Robinson ISBN: Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 248
Book Description
'My political life is over, and I proclaim my son Emperor of the French under the title of Napoleon II.' It was not to be. Napoleon's hopes, expressed in his declaration to the French people after his defeat at Waterloo, were vain. On 13 July 1815, after the great battle, Napoleon dictated his famous letter to the Prince Regent from a French frigate lying off Rochefort. Avoiding any hint of surrender, still less acceptance of responsibility for the defeat, he said he came 'like Themistocles to throw myself upon the hospitality of the British people - I put myself under the protection of their laws, which I claim from Your Royal Highness, as the most powerful, the most constant and the most generous of my enemies.' Napoleon's idea of living peacefully in the English countryside was a pipedream. The island of St Helena, to which the Royal Navy brought him, was a desolate and unappealing home. The respect accorded to him by the officers and crew of the ship revealed, however, his sure touch with fighting men, and the magnetism he exerted even in defeat. Once in his 'prison' of Longwood, Napoleon came under the supervision of its Governor Sir Hudson Lowe. What really happened there? Was the fallen Emperor badly treated - perhaps even poisoned? Speculation has been rife for years. Lowe has been reviled by some historians, but looking afresh at the evidence Frank Giles portrays him, though unattractive in many ways, in a more favourable light. He gives a thought-provoking insight into British attitudes towards Napoleon in defeat, both at the time and in the writings of later literary figures.
Author: Ambrogio A. Caiani Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 0300258771 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 383
Book Description
A groundbreaking account of Napoleon Bonaparte, Pope Pius VII, and the kidnapping that would forever divide church and state In the wake of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, and Pope Pius VII shared a common goal: to reconcile the church with the state. But while they were able to work together initially, formalizing an agreement in 1801, relations between them rapidly deteriorated. In 1809, Napoleon ordered the Pope’s arrest. Ambrogio Caiani provides a pioneering account of the tempestuous relationship between the emperor and his most unyielding opponent. Drawing on original findings in the Vatican and other European archives, Caiani uncovers the nature of Catholic resistance against Napoleon’s empire; charts Napoleon’s approach to Papal power; and reveals how the Emperor attempted to subjugate the church to his vision of modernity. Gripping and vivid, this book shows the struggle for supremacy between two great individuals—and sheds new light on the conflict that would shape relations between the Catholic church and the modern state for centuries to come.
Author: Edward Fraser Publisher: ISBN: Category : Prisoners of war Languages : en Pages : 366
Book Description
"This century has seen the Centenary of the release of Napoleon's British Prisoners of War." "...between 1803 and 1814...the British prisoners numbered fewer than 12,000, and of these, speaking generally, more than a third were merchantman officers and sailors captured at sea by French frigates and privateers." -- preface and introduction.
Author: Denis Smith Publisher: Basic Books ISBN: 9781568582122 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 219
Book Description
The horrific story of twelve thousand prisoners of war recalls the deprivations faced by French soldiers after surrendering following the battle of BailTn and being exiled to small island prison in 1809.
Author: Paul Chamberlain Publisher: The History Press ISBN: 0750987340 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 290
Book Description
Norman Cross was the site of the world's first purpose-built prisoner-of- war camp constructed during the Napoleonic Wars. Opened in 1797, it was more than just a prison: it was a town in itself, with houses, offices, butchers, bakers, a hospital, a school, a market and a banking system. It was an important prison and military establishment in the east of England with a lively community of some 7,000 French inmates. Alongside a comprehensive examination of the prison itself, this detailed and informative book, compiled by a leading expert on the Napoleonic era, explores what life was like for inmates and turnkeys alike – the clothing, food, health, education, punishment and, ultimately, the closure of the depot in 1814.