The silent majority of Restoration France were the peasants, the small farmers scraping out a living across its varied countryside. Learn who these peasants were, how they worked, and how they survived. 

Visit thesiecle.com for bonus information, pictures and charts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The early 19th Century writer and statesman Chateaubriand was a keen (if biased) observer of many of the events chronicled in The Siècle — and a top-notch writer, to boot! In this bonus episode, I present an excerpt from Chateaubriand's memoirs, including his thoughts on Napoleon, Louis XVIII, censorship and France's constitutional monarchy. 

As always, visit thesiecle.com for full transcript, annotations and illustrations. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet the "legitimists," the group of right-wing ultra-royalists who would have a profound influence on 19th Century French politics. Champions of natural order and Catholicism, liberty and inequality, they had a sophisticated philosophy rooted in opposing the evils of the Enlightenment and Revolution. 

Like what you hear? Support the show on Patreon!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The restored king of France, Louis XVIII, faces a stiff challenge from the parliament he just created. But these champions of parliamentary power aren't who might expect. 

Like what you hear? Support the show on Patreon!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the fall of Napoleon, France got a new constitution — one full of contradictions. Learn about The Charter, a constitution literally for the 1%. 

Like what you hear? Support the show on Patreon!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Waterloo, France was invaded by a huge multinational foreign army — and they didn't leave for more than three years. Learn more about the facts and consequences of this occupation in an interview with Prof. Christine Haynes, author of a recent book on the subject.

Visit thesiecle.com for a transcript, pictures, and a link to buy the book. 

Remastered version uploaded on August 7, 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

France plunges into violence after the final fall of Napoleon. Featuring: invasion, murder, treason, extortion, art theft, 300 million bottles of wine, rude drinking songs and seditious chickens. 

Like what you hear? Support the show on Patreon!

Remastered version uploaded on August 7, 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paris in 1815 was a city of intense contradictions, where shining palaces and squalid slums sat right next door to each other. Meet the city that is not yet the City of Light at the dawn of the Restoration. Follow along with maps at thesiecle.com/episode4!

Like what you hear? Support the show on Patreon!

Remastered version uploaded on August 7, 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Napoleon's famous Hundred Days, told in Simpsons GIFs, the format these epic events have been waiting two centuries for. Special bonus The Siècle content available now at http://thesiecle.com/supplemental1/.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What kind of kingdom had Louis XVIII managed to win after Waterloo, anyway? We take a tour of France in 1815, from its mountains and rivers to its hardscrabble peasants, wine-trading merchants and imperious nobles. Follow along with vital maps at thesiecle.com/episode3!

Like what you hear? Support the show on Patreon!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices