The Napoleonic Quarterly

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[15:38] - Everett Rummage on the Cairo revolt and French efforts to quash Mameluke resistance in upper Egypt

[35:42] - Jonathan North on the ill-fated Neapolitan invasion of the Papal States

[1:01:34] - Elise K. Wirtschafter on Russia's decision to join the Second Coalition

Plus from [1:11:27] Charles Esdaile on storming form sets out how the French had the Second Coalition coming to them, and is surprised by Alex Mikaberidze very much agreeing with him.

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Rachel Blackman-Rogers discusses Britain's naval and maritime strategy throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars with Professor Andrew Lambert of King's College London's Department of War Studies.

[2:38] - misconceptions of naval fiction

[6:35] - prize money

[9:22] - the City and the Admiralty

[12:18] - the bond between officers and men (and when it got broken)

[14:33] - the 'we were treated horribly' sub-genre of maritime memoir literature

[16:28] - impressment as an occupational hazard

[19:46] - everything wrong with the French navy

[24:18] - targeting French privateers

[27:56] - French colonial losses

[32:47] - the Scheldt as the big British invasion launchpad

[39:48] - Europe's transformed armies after 1805/6

[41:36] - how Britain helped - and fought - the Russian navy

[44:44] - the War of 1812

[52:02] - how Britain's focus on sound money helped the war effort

[55:27] - why Britain's Caribbean colony-grabbing wasn't entirely imperialistic

[57:43] - how Nelson lived on after Trafalgar.

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1798. July… August… September… Three months in which Bonaparte shatters the Mamelukes at the Battle of the Pyramids… Horatio Nelson shatters the French at the Battle of the Nile… And the diplomatically outraged United States threatens its ex-ally France with war. This is episode 27 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months in which France’s Egyptian adventure tastes success on land - and then disaster at sea.

[11:38] A bonus mini-segment concluding the grim story of the Irish Rebellion from Ciaran McDonnell

[17:46] Everett Rummage on Bonaparte's advance to Cairo and the Battle of the Pyramids

[28:48] An extended discussion between our didactic duo Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze on the Egyptian campaign

[49:18] Rachel Blackman-Rogers on the Battle of the Nile

[1:07:54] Frank Cogliano on the Quasi-War between France and the United States

[1:23:22] Closing thoughts from Charles and Alex as they assess the situation at the end of September 1798.

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As Josh is a proper social media type chap, here are some proper social media type show notes! Josh Provan's Adventures In Historyland YouTube channel contains a wealth of material. He can be found on Twitter @LandOfHistory. His books are Wild East: The British in Japan 1854-1868 and Bullocks, Grain & Good Madeira: The Maratha & Jat Campaigns 1803-1806.

Some further reading recommendations from Josh: 

Wellington In India, by Jac Weller

Wellington: The Path To Victory 1769-1814, by Rory Muir

White Mughals, by William Dalrymple

The Anarchy, by William Dalrymple

The Honourable Company, by John Keay

Wellington And The British Army's Indian Campaigns, by Martin R. Howard

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Alexander Mikaberidze is joined by Charles Esdaile and special guest Simon Sebag Montefiore for the second in our 'Ukraine Quarterly' occasional series of panel discussions. As the conflict in Ukraine enters its second year their discussion about the war and its historical antecedents offers insights into the way the fighting is playing out today. What are the strengths and (mostly) weaknesses of Russia's autocracy? Why does Ukraine need to continue grappling with its own past? Why does Potemkin matter so much to Putin? 

The Financial Times article Alex mentions at the beginning can be read here (although to note it's behind a paywall): 

https://www.ft.com/content/80002564-33e8-48fb-b734-44810afb7a49

Simon Sebag Montefiore's website featuring all of his books can be reached here:

http://www.simonsebagmontefiore.com/

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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.