The Napoleonic Quarterly

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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.

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In this bonus discussion episode Alexander Mikaberidze and Charles Esdaile bring their Napoleonic expertise to bear on the 2022 conflict in Ukraine. An earlier version of this episode contained some missing elements; this has now been corrected. Apologies. Sabotage is suspected.

In this bonus discussion episode Alexander Mikaberidze and Charles Esdaile bring their Napoleonic expertise to bear on the 2022 conflict in Ukraine.

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

1797. April… May… June. Three months in which a victorious French general secures generous peace terms from Vienna... national elections in France prompt yet another political crisis… and the Royal Navy faces a series of mutinies that puts British security on a knife-edge. This is episode 22 of the Napoleonic Quarterly – covering three months in which Bonaparte the statesman takes centre stage.

[09:40] - Michael Broers on the Preliminaries of Leoben

[31:20] - Ruth Scurr on the 1797 French elections

[57:47] - Rachel Blackman-Rogers on the Nore and Sheerness mutinies

Plus from [23:05] a deep dive into the Austrian military courtesy of Charles Esdaile

And from [1:07:44] Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze size up the state of Europe, including Prussia and Russia, as the First Coalition draws to a close.

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1797. January. February. March… Three months in which the Austrians take on the French at Rivoli... An outnumbered Spanish fleet is outgunned by the British… And the Pope suffers yet another humiliation. This is episode 21 of the Napoleonic Quarterly – covering three months in which, for the first time in these wars, the Austrian capital comes under threat.

[02:00] - Comments on the contemporary situation in Ukraine

[10:06] - Headline developments for Q1-1797

[24:47] - Rick Schneid on the conclusion (very nearly) of the north Italian campaign, including the Battle of Rivoli

[41:00} - Rachel Blackman-Rogers on the Battle of Cape St Vincent

[1:03:17] - Mary Robinson on the Treaty of Tolentino, a disaster for the anti-French Papacy

[1:19:10] - Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze assess the biggest question-marks of 31 March 1797