Citizen Emperor


Book Description

In this second volume of Philip Dwyer’s authoritative biography on one of history’s most enthralling leaders, Napoleon, now 30, takes his position as head of the French state after the 1799 coup. Dwyer explores the young leader’s reign, complete with mistakes, wrong turns, and pitfalls, and reveals the great lengths to which Napoleon goes in the effort to fashion his image as legitimate and patriarchal ruler of the new nation. Concealing his defeats, exaggerating his victories, never hesitating to blame others for his own failings, Napoleon is ruthless in his ambition for power. Following Napoleon from Paris to his successful campaigns in Italy and Austria, to the disastrous invasion of Russia, and finally to the war against the Sixth Coalition that would end his reign in Europe, the book looks not only at these events but at the character of the man behind them. Dwyer reveals Napoleon’s darker sides—his brooding obsessions and propensity for violence—as well as his passionate nature: his loves, his ability to inspire, and his capacity for realizing his visionary ideas. In an insightful analysis of Napoleon as one of the first truly modern politicians, the author discusses how the persuasive and forward-thinking leader skillfully fashioned the image of himself that persists in legends that surround him to this day.




The Romanovs


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the national bestselling author of Stalin: An "epic history on the grandest scale” (Financial Times) about the most successful dynasty of modern times, a family who created the world’s greatest empire—and then lost it all. "An essential addition to the library of anyone interested in Russian history.” —The New York Times Book Review The Romanovs ruled a sixth of the world’s surface for three centuries. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality intoc the world’s greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? This is the intimate story of twenty tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore’s gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire-building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence, and wild extravagance. Drawing on new archival research, Montefiore delivers an enthralling epic of triumph and tragedy, love and murder, that is both a universal study of power and a portrait of empire that helps define Russia today.




Alexander of Russia


Book Description

In Paris and London, the crowds hailed him as the man who had conquered Napoleon, as the liberator of Europe, and as a benevolent, enlightened monarch. At home he came to be feared as a reactionary, oppressive autocrat in a country where millions of serfs were still treated as little more than personal property. A grandson of Catherine the Great, a conspirator in the assassination of his own father, and an idealistic and ineffective participant at the Congress of Vienna, Alexander was torn all his life between his liberal illusions and the hard realities of autocratic Russia. In a brilliant biography of one of the most unorthodox of Russia's tsars, Henri Troyat -- winner of the Prix Populiste and the coveted Prix Goncourt -- delivers a masterful portrait of Europe during a momentous period in its modern history. [Troyat's] broad-brush narrative restores to center stage important personalities and their interplay in the politics of the era. -- James H. Billington, The New York Times Book Review [A] briskly moving, richly illustrated, flesh-and-blood portrait. -- Publishers Weekly Troyat's biography of Alexander ... turns out to be more enthralling than most of the novels I've read lately. -- Pamela Marsh, The Christian Science Monitor




Kutuzov


Book Description

A Russian war hero who defeated Napoleon and became a mythic military figure. Alexander Mikaberidze's latest book is the first modern English-language biography of Mikhail Golenischev-Kutuzov, the famed Russian Field Marshal and central character of Leo Tolstoy's epic War and Peace. One of the most important military minds of the period, he is credited with defeating Napoleon and saving Russia, though his fame is not limited to the Napoleonic wars. As it often happens with national heroes, Kutuzov gradually became larger than life, a messianic character who led Holy Russia against the evils of the Revolution and anarchy; the Soviet leaders later exploited his personality for even more grandiose schemes. The real Kutuzov was gradually replaced by a mythical character who appeared at a time of great danger to save Russia. The impact of this propaganda can be still seen in modern Russia: In 2000, the public opinion poll showed that majority of the Russians consider Kutuzov as the Person of the 19th Century, far ahead of famous writers Alexander Pushkin and Leo Tolstoy, composer Peter Tchaikovsky or scientist Dmitry Mendeleyev, while the 2017 public opinion poll placed Kutuzov in the top twenty of the most distinguished historical personalities in world history (slightly behind Napoleon). As much as Kutuzov is venerated in Russia, he remains an overlooked figure in the West, with Western historiography comprising of just a handful of titles in English, French or German, the vast majority of them translations of older Soviet works or derived from them. This book provides a new biography of the field marshal, examining his personal life and military/diplomatic accomplishments, and relying on a wide range of primary and secondary sources as well as Russian archival material. Mikaberidze offers a fresh look at the historical figure whose character remains elusive but whose accomplishments are irrefutable.




Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500


Book Description

Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500 explores the role of women as agents of diplomacy in the trans-Atlantic world since the early modern age. Despite increasing evidence of their involvement in political life across the centuries, the core historical narrative of international politics remains notably depleted of women. This collection challenges this perspective. Chapters cover a wide range of geographical contexts, including Europe, Russia, Britain and the United States, and trace the diversity of women’s activities and the significance of their contributions. Together these essays open up the field to include a broader interpretation of diplomatic work, such as the unofficial avenues of lobbying, negotiation and political representation that made women central diplomatic players in the salons, courts and boudoirs of Europe. Through a selection of case studies, the book throws into new perspective the operations of political power in local and national domains, bridging and at times reconceptualising the relationship of the private to the public. Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500 is essential reading for all those interested in the history of diplomacy and the rise of international politics over the past five centuries.




Mémoires du général de Caulaincourt, duc de Vicence, grand écuyer de l’Empereur


Book Description

« Caulaincourt n’avait cessé sous l’Empire de prendre des notes chaque jour au bivouac ou dans le cabinet de Tuileries. Il se serait décidé à les mettre en forme entre 1822 et 1825. L’énorme documentation réunie quotiennement explique la valeur du témoignage du duc de Vicenze... le récit ne commence qu’à l’entrevue d’Erfurt. Il se poursuit avec la campagne de Russie et la retraite. C’est dans les chapitres VII-VIII et XI ( « En traîneau avec l’Empereur » ) souvent réédites que l’on dispose d’un document de premier ordre sur l’état d’esprit de Napoléon après le désastre de 1812. Quittant la Grande Armée, l’Empereur voyage en la seule compagnie de Caulaincourt de Smorgoni à Paris. Pendant ce long voyage, Napoléon se confie au Grand Ecuyer avec d’autant plus de franchise qu’il ignore que Caulaincourt prend des notes. « Puis Caulaincourt narre les péripéties de Congrès de Châtillon et y justifie son attitude. On notera d’importants développements sur l’entrée des Alliés à Paris, l’attitude de Napoléon, la défection de Marmont, l’abdication et la tentative de suicide de l’Empereur. Les mémoires s’arrêtent aux « Adieux de Fontainebleau » p 33 - Professeur Jean Tulard, Bibliographie Critique Sur Des Mémoires Sur Le Consulat Et L'Empire, Droz, Genève, 1971




Alexandre Ier et Napol?on


Book Description




Vigée Le Brun


Book Description

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842) was one of the finest eighteenth-century french painters and among the most important women artists of all time. Celebrated for her expressive portraits of French royalty and aristocracy, and especially of her patron Marie Antoinette, Vigée Le Brun exemplified success and resourcefulness in an age when women were rarely allowed either. Because of her close association with the queen Vigée Le Brun was forced to flee France during the French Revolution. For twelve years she traveled throughout Europe, painting noble sitters in the courts of Naples, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. She returned to France in 1802, under the reign of Emperor Napoleon I, where her creativity continued unabated. This handsome volume details Vigée Le Brun's story, portraying a talented artist who nimbly negotiated a shifting political and geographic landscape. Essays by international scholars address the ease with which this self-taught artist worked with monarchs, the nobility, court officials and luminaries of arts and letters, many of whom attended her famous salons. The position of women artists in Europe and at the Salons of the period is also explored, as are the challenges faced by Vigée Le Brun during her exile. The ninety paintings and pastels included in this volume attest to Vigée Le Brun's superb sense of color and expression. They include exquisite depictions of counts and countesses, princes and princesses alongside mothers and children, including the artist herself and her beloved daughter, Julie. A chronology of the life of Vigée Le Brun and a map of her travels accompany the text, elucidating the peregrinations of this remarkable, independent painter.