Taking the epic conflicts of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars three months at a time. Each episode features interviews with leading historians of the period - covering the campaigns, diplomacy and political dramas of an extraordinary 24 years.
Our recap episodes, which offer a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time, have reached 1800 - a year in which Napoleon Bonaparte achieves one of his greatest victories to consolidate his new position of power in France. Chris Sloan talks presenter Alex Stevenson through specific key …
In the seventh and penultimate 15 minutes of our screenplay treatment, Napoleon is back in France to go for the top prize - power. But his bid for his ultimate goal is not going to be straightforward and he has to accept that in order to achieve this, he'll have to put aside romantic dreams and do w…
Our recap episodes, which offer a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time, have reached 1799 - a year in which Napoleon Bonaparte achieves an astonishing turnaround in fortunes which ends with him in power. Chris Sloan talks presenter Alex Stevenson through specific key clips he's pic…
In the sixth 15-minute section of our screenplay, Napoleon plunges into his darkest hour. Reeling from betrayal and defeat, he confronts the plague-ridden horrors of his campaign in the Levant and faces the brutal consequences of war, both on the battlefield and within himself. The myth of his invin…
Charles Esdaile has a lot to get off his chest when it comes to the Battle of Waterloo - which is why he surprised me recently by asking to do what turned into a three-hour mythbusting session working through what he thinks everyone's getting wrong about the ultimate Napoleonic encounter.
As this po…
Our recap episodes, which offer a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time, have reached 1798 - a year in which Napoleon Bonaparte leads an astonishingly bold expedition to capture Egypt for France, which is going astonishingly badly by the end of the year. Chris Sloan talks presenter …
In the fifth 15-minute section of our screenplay, Napoleon’s journey takes a sharp, downward turn. Success is replaced by mounting setbacks as our hero heads to Egypt - an ambiguous mission that isolates him from power and allies. The Directory’s antagonism grows ever more apparent, Josephine’s betr…
Our recap episodes, which offer a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time, have reached 1797 - a year in which Napoleon Bonaparte continues to confound western Europe amidst the continuing churning turmoil of French revolutionary politics. Chris Sloan talks presenter Alex Stevenson th…
In the fourth 15-minute section of our movie screenplay we move towards the midpoint, the critical moment where accumulating consequences for our hero Napoleon Bonaparte make him realise his military successes represent a false hope. He's going to have to rethink - and we need to set out in this sec…
Our recap episodes, which offer a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time, has reached 1796 - a year in which the rockstar general Napoleon Bonaparte writes his own script. Chris Sloan talks presenter Alex Stevenson through specific key clips he's picked out from our old episodes grou…
In the first 15 minutes of Act 2 of our putative Napoleon movie, we get into "the promise of the premise"—delivering the kind of content audiences expect from a Napoleon film: military campaigns, political maneuveures, personal intrigue... as well as some further development of the love story with J…
This is the fourth in our series of recap episodes, offering a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time. Chris Sloan talks presenter Alex Stevenson through specific key clips he's picked out from our old episodes grouped around four themes which, we argue, help frame the period and sha…
In minutes 15-30 of our screenplay treatment our protagonist Bonaparte has his refusal of the call moment, the love story gets going, the gang gets together, and then it all builds to the end of Act 1 when Napoleon crosses the threshold - and the bridge of Lodi - at the same time. This is really the…
This is the third in our series of recap episodes, offering a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time. Chris Sloan talks presenter Alex Stevenson through specific key clips he's picked out from our old episodes grouped around four themes which, we argue, help frame the period and shap…
Taking up the challenge of crafting a top-notch screenplay treatment about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Alex Stevenson is joined by James Topham (who knows a thing or two about screenwriting) and Ben Deery (who knows a thing or two about acting) to put the movie world to rights. Having analysed t…
This is the second in a series of recap episodes, offering a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time. Chris Sloan talks presenter Alex Stevenson through specific key clips he's picked out from our old episodes grouped around four themes which, we argue, help frame the period and shape…
Taking up the challenge of crafting a top-notch screenplay treatment about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Alex Stevenson is joined by James Topham (who knows a thing or two about screenwriting) and Ben Deery (who knows a thing or two about acting) to put the movie world to rights. Having analysed t…
This is the first in a series of recap episodes, offering a synthesis of our 1792-1804 coverage one year at a time. Chris Sloan talks presenter Alex Stevenson through specific key clips he's picked out from our old episodes grouped around four themes which, we argue, help frame the period and shape …
Here's what you need to know:
- Having reached the end of 1804, the Napoleonic Quarterly is now halfway through its decade-long project.
- That means it's time for a half-time break to reboot and relaunch the project, with the twin goals of offering an alternative 'entry point' for Napoleonic Wars …
On a freezing day in December 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte placed the imperial crown of France on his head in Notre-Dame - the first time an Emperor had ruled in Paris for 1,000 years and the time of Charlemagne. What were the ambiguities of the ceremony and what did they mean for the continuing story o…
Veteran Podcast Network