Napoleon #002 (mp3 – 16Mb – 46mins)

In Episode #2 of Napoleon 101, we start the story of Napoleon’s life with his birth in the town of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. We then cover:

• The political environment of Corsica
• His father Carlo’s relationship with the Corsican revolutionary Paoli
• Napoleon’s life at military boarding school from age 9
• The French Revolution occurs in 1789 and Napoleon’s reaction to it
• In 1791 he returns to Corsica to play a role in its revolution
• In 1793 he splits with Paoli and has to escape Corsica with his entire family
• He then experiences more civil war at the battle of Avignon
• Writes the short story Le Souper de Beaucaire
• Finally, at age 24, he is the architect of the victory at Toulon!
• For his part he is promoted to Brigadier General

In the next episode, we will start with the events of Thermidor and the infamous “whiff of grapeshot”!

If you are enjoying the series but want to learn more about Napoleon, don’t forget to check out David’s many books, including “Napoleon For Dummies”, which you can find here.

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Napoleon 101 #001 (mp3 – 24Mb – 68 mins)

An Introduction to The Napoleon 101 Podcast from Cameron Reilly on Vimeo.

Welcome to the first episode of Napoleon 101! David and I are very excited about creating this show and the rest of the series.

For this first episode, we thought we’d start by giving you a bit of a taste-tester. Before we get deep into the nitty-gritty of his life and career, we’ll take you on a quick journey of what makes Napoleon such an interesting topic for us. For example, we cover:

• How and when did we first get interested in Napoleon?
• What is it about Napoleon that fascinates us?
• The first things everyone wants to know:
  • Was he really short?
  • Why did he stick his hand inside his jacket?
  • Did he really say “Not tonight, Josephine”?
  • Was he poisoned or not?
• Top 5 things everyone should know about Napoleon
  • He was Corsican
  • He rarely, if ever, broke a peace treaty
  • He was a workaholic who hardly slept
  • He was a genius with a great eye for detail
  • The Code Napoleon
• Our favourite Napoleonic event/story/anecdote/myth
  • The return from Elba
  • The Battle of Austerlitz

If you are new to Napoleon, then we hope this show will give you a taste to learn more. If you are already an experienced hand, then we hope you will enjoy hearing a couple of Napoleon geeks tell the story that you are already familiar with.

If you like the show, please subscribe on either iTunes or Stitcher.

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