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1798. April… May… June… Three months in which Horatio Nelson utterly fails to track down Napoelon Bonaparte’s fleet heading for Egypt… Rebellion finally breaks out in Ireland where anger and frustration and repression soon lead to bloodshed... And on the Indian sub-continent a newly arrived British leader set on imperial expansion soon gets to work. 

This is episode 26 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months of empty Mediterranean horizons - bad news for the British and very good news for the French.

[11:50] - Rachel Blackman-Rogers on Nelson's Mediterranean search as Bonaparte's fleet moves slowly towards Egypt

[30:18] - Ciaran McDonnell on the Irish Rebellion

[52:45] - Josh Provan on the British in India

And from [1:09:40] Alexander Mikaberidze and Charles Esdaile size up the situation midway through 1798, with all eyes on the French fleet disembarking at Alexandria.

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Here's a new format we're piloting for the podcast... Alex Stevenson is joined by Phil Ball and Rachel Blackman-Rogers to size up the State of the Podcast and chew over a few questions from listeners. While the below provides a rough guide listeners should be advised the editorial style is CHATTY and LIGHTHEARTED, creating both a general sense of bonhomie and a tendency towards diverting historical anecdotes.

02:30 - Introductory patter

06:00 - Listener FEEDBACK, or, thanks youse guys!

17:50 - Plotting PANEL presentations, or, more content in the offing for the Napoleonic Quarterly

22:00 - RATIONALE, or, why this new bonus episode podcast format is a good and sensible idea which will delight listeners and indeed encourage listener engagement with questions and suchlike

26:00 - previewing EPISODE 26, or, what you can expect from Q2-1798

39:00 - 1800, or, what should we cover for Q1-1800, Q2-1800, Q3-1800 and, er, Q4-1800?

41:40 - AMPHIBIOUS, or, a discussion of the Venn diagram between two PhDs

48:00 - Answering listener QUESTIONS, or, the actual point of this episode

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Here's 30 minutes of the brilliant Frank Cogliano, Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh, who offers his thoughts on American self-confidence and its flip side, American insecurity, in the early republic. We also covered British attitudes to the not-yet-special relationship, Frank's views on a certain N. Bonaparte and, of course, Alexander Hamilton's musical rehabilitation and Frank's enduring patience as everybody quotes its lyrics at him. Thanks to Frank for discussing the Founding Fathers' notion of a nation! This interview was recorded in the summer of 2022.

PS - sorry for the audio quality which is occasionally patchy. 

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1798. January.. February... March... Three months in which the United States is outraged by the villainy of France’s foreign minister Talleyrand... The French make short work of the Pope’s forces... And to the south the King who rules Naples and the Queen who rules him are cooking up plans to get even with the French. This is episode 25 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months in which the world wonders what France will do next.

[18:18] - Frank Cogliano on the XYZ Affair troubling Franco-American relations

[37:03] - Mary Robinson on the French takeover of the Papal States - and the Pope's response

[55:00] - Jonathan North on why Naples matters - and some background on the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

And from [1:13:00] or thereabouts Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze offer their somewhat different interpretations of what the French were thinking in cooking up their plans to invade Egypt.

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After a 2022 addled by long covid, here's a fresh start for the podcast in 2023! We'll be covering two more dramatic years with new main episodes each month and lots of bonus episodes inbetween.

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Professor Michael Broers of Oxford University's Lady Margaret Hall assesses Napoleon's achievements and shortcomings, shortly after concluding his three-volume biography with 'Napoleon: The Decline And Fall Of An Empire 1811-1821'. This interview was recorded in late 2021, shortly after Prof Broers completed his manuscript. The book was published on August 2nd 2022.

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Rachel Blackman-Rogers is a maritime historian at King's College London. Her PhD thesis is on the transformation of British naval strategy during the 1790s and advances a series of compelling arguments about the development of British goals during the period. Rachel has been a stalwart on the podcast so far and so it was great to finally get the chance to talk to her about her research and its implications for how we think about the period as a whole. 

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Writer, historian and literary critic Ruth Scurr discusses her experience writing three very different biographies: Fatal Purity: Robespierre And The French Revolution; John Aubrey: My Own Life (about the 16thC antiquarian); and Napoleon: A Life In Gardens And Shadows, an entirely unique take on a man who continues to fascinate. 

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1797. October… November… December… Three months in which the United Irishmen rally themselves for another stab at rebellion… The Royal Navy smashes the Dutch at Camperdown… And the Treaty of Campo Formio grapples with European strategic interests slowly turning to the east. This is episode 24 of the Napoleonic1797. October… November… December… Three months in which the United Irishmen rally themselves for another stab at rebellion… The Royal Navy smashes the Dutch at Camperdown… And the Treaty of Campo Formio grapples with European strategic interests slowly turning to the east. This is episode 24 of the Napoleonic Quarterly – covering three months in which France’s victories since the Revolution are further inked in to the map of Europe.

[14:31] – Ciaran McDonnell on growing United Irishmen hopes

[28:04] – Rachel Blackman-Rogers on the Battle of Camperdown Quarterly – covering three months in which France’s victories since the Revolution are further inked in to the map of Europe.

[47:56] - Michael Broers on the Treaty of Campo Formio

[58:00] - An extended end-of-season discussion in which Alexander Mikaberidze and Charles Esdaile assess the situation as 1797 draws to a close.

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1797. July… August… September… Three months in which the French military steps in to protect the republic against its voters... Horatio Nelson loses his right arm in a disastrous failure for the Royal Navy… And the arch-manipulator Talleyrand becomes France’s latest foreign minister. This is episode 23 of the Napoleonic Quarterly – covering three months in which the French Revolution sells out – again.

[14:02] - Ruth Scurr on the Fructidor coup

[32:52] - Rachel Blackman-Rogers on Nelson's Tenerife disaster

[51:30] - Biancamaria Fontana on Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Featuring Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze pondering the likelihood of a French descent on Egypt in the intro and their assessment of the state of play in the episode's final ten minutes.