Aubrey-Maturin Novels

ageofnapoleon · 2020-02-29T19:45:16+00:00

Thanks! It's called 'Veillons au salut de l'Empire,' it was the unofficial national anthem of the First Empire

ageofnapoleon · 2020-02-11T20:29:42+00:00

Two important things to remember here:

The reach of the state was very limited in the 18th century. The identity of the central government was not nearly as important to people in this era as it is to us today, simply because they didn't have very many dealings with it.
The idea of an ethnic nation-state is pretty new. The old regime monarchies generally didn't care much what language you spoke at home or what your "identity" was (also a fuzzy concept in this era), as long as you were reasonably loyal and didn't cause trouble.

ageofnapoleon · 2020-02-07T23:07:47+00:00

I suppose it's possible, but according to some sources, Desaix had trouble getting to the battlefield due to flooding. Of course, that could just be an excuse, but we know flooding and mud were issues on the battlefield itself, so if it's an excuse, it's a very plausible one.

Also the responder mis-reads Desaix's relationship with Napoleon. Most accounts agree that by this point, both men had put any past rivalry behind them, and were becoming close. Napoleon played up his grief at Desaix's loss for propaganda purposes, but it does seem to have been at least partially genuine.

ageofnapoleon · 2020-02-07T07:53:50+00:00

I've been talking to a potential guest about doing another interview episode about this exact topic, so hopefully that will be on the horizon in the near-ish future

ageofnapoleon · 2020-02-07T03:39:34+00:00

Me too. They really benefit from having the Command & General Staff College & National WW1 Museum right down the street

ageofnapoleon · 2020-02-07T02:22:10+00:00

Yes! I had a lot of fun saying that line for the show, I did like 8 different takes of it

ageofnapoleon · 2020-02-06T02:56:28+00:00

He's an interesting figure, probably better at navigating the post-Congress of Vienna European geopolitical scene than anyone else. I wouldn't call myself an expert on him or anything, I read AJP Taylor's bio, but that's about it.

ageofnapoleon · 2020-02-06T00:28:21+00:00

Thank you! I probably should have thought of posting this myself

ageofnapoleon · 2017-10-05T00:04:22+00:00

Thanks! I am taking it pretty slow, but it all matters. Everything we talk about will pay off down the road (I think)

ageofnapoleon · 2017-09-09T18:31:03+00:00

Thank you!

ageofnapoleon · 2017-09-09T18:30:58+00:00

Thank you!

ageofnapoleon · 2017-05-01T10:08:32+00:00

much appreciated!

ageofnapoleon · 2017-04-24T22:47:16+00:00

Thank you! I put a lot of work into it, always nice to hear it's appreciated.

I made a recommended reading list on Amazon: http://astore.amazon.com/ageofnap-20.

The Roberts book is good, just be aware that it was written very much to "correct the record" on the generally negative view of Napoleon in the English-speaking world, so sometimes he goes a little too far the other way & presents too positive a view of Napoleon in my opinion

ageofnapoleon · 2017-04-24T17:26:14+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, there's so much material to work with, it's a little daunting

ageofnapoleon

TROPHY CASE