The Napoleonic Quarterly

1799. July… August… September… Three months in which the Allies’ pivot north to Switzerland fails thanks to a fightback from Massena... the British team up with the Russians in a bid to stir up Holland… And in Egypt Napoleon Bonaparte wins another victory for the French against the Ottomans - before sneaking off in the night on a fast ship back to France. This is episode 31 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months of desperate fighting - and desperate measures.

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

[06:07] - Headline developments

[16:54] - David Hollins on the fighting in Germany

[50:49] - Phil Ball on the British-Russian efforts in Holland

[1:10:32] - Charles Mackay on the Battle of Aboukir

Plus Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze join us throughout to talk through their perspectives on the period.

This bonus episode is really more of a planning meeting than an actual episode of the Napoleonic Quarterly. It contains all the features of a modern online discussion: unscheduled coughs, rustling, unscheduled sniffles, people talking over each other, variable audio quality and strange buzzing sounds appearing at intermittent intervals. However, listeners may be willing to put up with all this if they want to hear how the sausage gets made - all the wrangling and negotiations and balancing and hand-wringing that goes into deciding the key quesrtion of: what should we have as our three interview segments for the eight episodes covering 1800 and 1801? For this episode Josh Provan takes the reins; Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze give their views; the newly-appointed Quartermaster-General Alex Stevenson reveals what he had had in mind ten years ago; and Bernie Campbell summarises the views of the Patrons attending, including the very welcome season 4 contributor David Hollins. In summary, the first part of 1800 is something of a mess but things definitely improve in 1801. So stick with us, if you can!

Jonathan North, Napoleonic historian and author of several books including 'Nelson at Naples 1799', sets out why he believes Horatio Nelson's conduct in 1799 constitutes more than a mere stain on his character. This episode contains content which some pro-British listeners may find alarming.

1799. April… May… June… Three months in which the Austrians and the Russians make sweeping Italian gains... Beleaguered French forces find themselves clinging on in Syria against the Ottomans… And in India Tippu Sultan meets a grisly end at the hands of the British. This is episode 30 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months of bloodshed and tensions as the empires fight back.

[08:25] - Headline developments, with thanks to Josh Provan. Video version: https://www.facebook.com/100064278330452/videos/1420607152055841

[16:43] - Short mini-segment on 'Nelson's war crime'

[23:13] - David Hollins on the fighting in north Italy and Switzerland

[49:33] - Charles Mackay on the Battle of Mt Tabor

[1:05:22] - Josh Provan on the fall of Seringapatam

Many people looking to find out more about the soldiers who fought for the Austrian Empire in the 1792-1815 period will have turned to David Hollins' excellent Osprey books, the result of his fascination with a Vienna-minded perspective often overlooked by those in the English-speaking world. Here David has been talking through his approach; offering more insights into how the Austrians differed from the rest in their military and political structures; explaining how he went about researching the battles the Austrians fought and the soldiers who fought them; and picking out which Austrian victory was the most underrated in the period.

Charles Mackay, known to Napoleonic Twitter by his brilliant soubriquet @BubblesVampire, had his PhD on Napoleonic nearly-man Andoche Junot supervised by the late great Donald D. Horward. We'll be hearing from Charles on the latest goings-on in Egypt in episodes 30 and 31, but hear he is talking us through the life of a complicated, wounded, not-always-likeable personality. Given Junot's multiple head wounds, and h is habit of self-medicating on opium and alchool, it is perhaps remarkable he accomplished as much as he did before his demons overtook him.

- The Napoleonic Quarterly's Patreon has the potential to be a real game-changer, helping us take the podcast to the next level of Napoleonic tremendousness.

- By using the $$$ to pay for the services of an audio editor it becomes possible to produce more content complementing the main episodes.

- There's scope for higher-tier Patrons to actually present some of these bonus episodes, so come forward if you're interested and let's see how we get on.

- Patrons will also have plenty of opportunities to go behind-the-scenes and get involved in the planning process, which feels like a really big part of the journey.

- And Patrons will have early access to director's cut full-length unedited episodes, as well as all the really good bits left on the cutting-room floor.

And so, once more with feeling:

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

Professor Emeritus Elise Kimerling Wirtschafter of CalPolyPomona's long academic career studying Russian history has almost come full circle: beginning in the Cold War context, she has seen very different attitudes emerge in the three decades before Putin's invasion of Ukraine. In this fascinating extended interview Elise talks us through that journey and explains how, even after all these years, there are still plenty of question-marks to ponder about Russia's place in the world.

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

1799. January.. February... March... Three months in which the Austrians push the French back in southern Germany… Napoleon Bonaparte runs up against Sidney Smith and the Royal Navy in Syria… And in Naples the newly-installed republicans face a challenge from Cardinal Ruffo and his ruffians. This is episode 29 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months of wavering French fortunes.

[06:11] - Headline developments, courtesy of Josh Provan

[14:00] - David Hollins on the fighting in southern Germany

[31:55] - Everett Rummage on Napoleon's expedition from Egypt to El-Arish, Jaffa and Acre

[43:12] - An extended discussion between Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze on the logic of Bonaparte's advance - and the ethics of the Jaffa massacre of prisoners-of-war

[57:07] - Jonathan North on Naples

[1:13:18] - Charles and Alex size up the situation at the end of March 1799.

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

Everett Rummage is the host of 'The Age Of Napoleon', a brilliant single-voice podcast which tells the story of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in great detail and with great charm. He's been kind enough to come on the Napoleonic Quarterly to talk us through the story of Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt and what followed, appearing in episodes 27, 28 and 29. And in this interview episode he's talked through some of the background to his project - how he became interested in the period, how he plans each episode, and his approach to the big and the small editorial quandaries which crop up throughout. This interview was recorded in May 2022.