The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #52 – Alex Mikaberidze on The Russian Generals

Alexander Mikaberidze joins us again on this episode to share deep biographical details about the major Russian Generals around the war of 1812 – Kutusov, Bagration, Barclay de Tolly, Tolstoy – the men who defeated Napoleon with a highly unusual strategy.

 

 

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast 51 – Alex Mikaberidze on The Burning of Moscow

Our guest today is again the wonderful Alexander Mikaberidze. We continue the discussion from where we left off in Episode 50, talking about Napoleon’s entry into Moscow, the burning of Moscow, and the “strategic withdrawal”. Was the burning of Moscow deliberate strategy on behalf of the Russians? If they hadn’t burned it, would the outcome of the campaign have been different? Why did Napoleon stay so long in Moscow?

Alex is assistant professor of European history at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. He holds a degree in international law from Tbilisi State University (Republic of Georgia, 1999) and a Ph.D. in history from Florida State University (2003). After working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (1996-2000), he taught European and Middle Eastern history at Florida State and Mississippi State Universities and lectured on strategy and policy for the U.S. Naval War College. In addition to his articles on various Napoleonic-related topics, Dr. Mikaberidze has written and edited seven books, including The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon versus Kutuzov (2007), Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2007), The Russian Officer Corps in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815 (2004, winner of the 2005 Literary Prize of the International Napoleonic Society), The Czar’s General: The Memoirs of a Russian General in the Napoleonic Wars (2005). He has been awarded the International Napoleonic Society’s Legion of Merit Award for his contributions to the Napoleonic studies.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast 50 – Guest Alex Mikaberidze on Napoleon and Alexander

We made it to 50! w00t!

Thanks to everyone for supporting our little show over the last few years. It’s been an honour to create these shows for you. Can I ask a favour? Would you mind going to our iTunes page and rating the podcast? The more ratings we get, the more people find the show. Click here to open up our page in iTunes.

Our guest today is the wonderful Alexander Mikaberidze.

Alex is assistant professor of European history at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. He holds a degree in international law from Tbilisi State University (Republic of Georgia, 1999) and a Ph.D. in history from Florida State University (2003). After working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (1996-2000), he taught European and Middle Eastern history at Florida State and Mississippi State Universities and lectured on strategy and policy for the U.S. Naval War College. In addition to his articles on various Napoleonic-related topics, Dr. Mikaberidze has written and edited seven books, including The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon versus Kutuzov (2007), Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2007), The Russian Officer Corps in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815 (2004, winner of the 2005 Literary Prize of the International Napoleonic Society), The Czar’s General: The Memoirs of a Russian General in the Napoleonic Wars (2005). He has been awarded the International Napoleonic Society’s Legion of Merit Award for his contributions to the Napoleonic studies.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #49 – Michael Kroger

Breaking away from talking to historians about Napoleon, today we have as our guest Australian businessman and political powerbroker, Michael Kroger.

Michael joins us to discuss his fascination with Napoleon, which extends to having 5 floors of his Melbourne mansion decorated in the Empire Style and owning (among other things) one of only seven original copies of “Napoleon After The Abdication” from the school of Paul Delaroche. He tells us about his love of the work of Percier and Fontaine, the chief exponents of the French Empire style of decorative arts and how he applies the lessons from Napoleon’s fall to both his business and political careers.

 

 

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #48 – Rafe Blaufarb

Continuing our series of chats with eminent Napoleonic scholars, today our guest is Rafe Blaufarb, Ben Weider Eminent Scholar and Director of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at Florida State University.

Dr. Blaufarb is a specialist in Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. He is the author of several books on the social and political history of the French military during this period: The French Army, 1750-1820: Careers, Talent, Merit (Manchester, 2002) and Bonapartists in the Borderlands: French Exiles and Refugees on the Gulf Coast, 1815-1835 (Tuscaloosa, 2006). He has published articles in the American Historical Review, Annales, H.S.S., Comparative Studies in Society and History, French Historical Studies, and Annales Historiques de la Révolution Française on the French army, the French nobility, noble fiscal privilege, and the geopolitics of Latin American independence. His current research focuses on the politics of property during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era.

Rafe joins us to talk about the history and focus of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at FSU, how he got interested in Napoleonic studies, Napoleon’s views on economics and how he might have dealt with America’s current financial crisis, and Napoleon’s legacy in the Western Hemisphere.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #47 – Louis Davout, The Iron Marshal

Welcome back! On episode #47, David and I have our first special guest!

Jerry Gallaher is Past President of the Napoleonic Alliqance and author of the 1976 classic account of one of Napoleon’s greatest Marshals, Louis Davout – “Iron Marshal – A Biography of Louis N. Davout.” He’s also a true gentleman, scholar and totally charming. Meeting him was one of the highlights of the INS congress in Corsica last July.

So I’m sure it will be of no surprise to you to learn that our subject tonight is The Iron Marshal himself, Louis-Nicolas d’Avout (May 10, 1770 – June 1, 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Duc d’Auerstaedt, 1st Prince d’Eckmühl, and Marshal of France.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #46 – In Memory of Ben Weider

Hi folks. As you’ll have seen in my last post, Ben Weider, President and Founder of the International Napoleonic Society, passed away on October 17, 2008. As Ben was a major influence in Napoleonic circles, a tireless promoter of the Emperor’s achievements, and, not least, a very close friend and colleague of David’s, we wanted to share with you some thoughts on Ben. I was at David’s house in Olympia this last weekend, shooting video of his AMAZING Napoleonic collection for our upcoming DVD pack, and we sat down to pay homage to Ben. This interview also features a chat with our friend Sean Richarz, composer of the musical Les Cent Jours De Napoleon (The 100 Days of Napoleon) that I mentioned when we were in Ajaccio last July and an opportunity for you to win one of five free signed CD’s of the music from the musical! Listen to the show to find out how to enter the competition.

Can I ask one more time for you to go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it? CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

On behalf of David and myself, I want to sincerely THANK YOU ALL for going on this journey with us over the last couple of years. It’s been a highlight of my podcasting career to be able to produce this for you. Of course I need to thank the one and only J. David Markham for giving us all so much of his time and knowledge freely and willingly over these last couple of years. I really do believe he has not only taken us all on a wonderful journey, but has also left a benchmark in podcasting and education.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #45 – La Mort de Napoleon

Well…. here we are folks. The end of the chronological part of our story. It’s been two-and-a-half years in the making. Sometimes I never thought we’d get here. In many ways, I wish we hadn’t. But it had to happen – and so – on today’s episode, the Emperor – dies.

We discuss his last two years on St Helena, without a decent doctor to attend to his increasing illness – which, of course, we believe to be symptoms of arsenic poisoning – his death and then his subsequent return to Paris, many years later.

With the end of our chronological story, we might take a rest. Fear not, however – the show isn’t over yet. We’ll be back to do some epiloguecasts, fulfilling some of the requests you’ve made over the last couple of years for us to drill down into some of the other characters in this most amazing story.

Can I ask one more time for you to go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it? CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.

On behalf of David and myself, I want to sincerely THANK YOU ALL for going on this journey with us over the last couple of years. It’s been a highlight of my podcasting career to be able to produce this for you. Of course I need to thank the one and only J. David Markham for giving us all so much of his time and knowledge freely and willingly over these last couple of years. I really do believe he has not only taken us all on a wonderful journey, but has also left a benchmark in podcasting and education.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #44 – The Murder Of Napoleon

On today’s episode, David and I talk about Napoleon’s struggles with Hudson Lowe, the theory that he was slowly being murdered while on St Helena, poisoned by someone in his own retinue, his sexual escapades with Albine de Montholon, and whether or not he had a “foxhole” religious conversion.

The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #43 – Sir Hudson Lowe

The story of Napoleon’s years on St Helena is dominated by one man, whose name is infamous in Napoleonic history – Sir Hudson Lowe, Napoleon’s “jailer”.

Hudson Lowe

The Duke of Wellington later said that he was “a very bad choice; he was a man wanting in education and judgement. He was a stupid man, he knew nothing at all of the world, and like all men who knew nothing of the world, he was suspicious and jealous”.

On today’s show we discuss the arrival of Lowe to St Helena and Napoleon’s forced move to new premises, Longwood.
Longwood
Longwood today. Photo by G.Wilson (see the Travelling Historian site for more great photos of Longwood.)

We also talk a bit about Corsica and Paris! Keep an eye out for the DVD pack which I’ll hopefully have ready in a few weeks.

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