In the Seine
An exhibition in Paris explores the history of the city through the objects recovered from the river at its heart.
Île-de-France
War of Words – ‘Sabotage’
With Marc DeSantis
Reaching the zenith
In the second part of our series on Napoleon’s rise and fall, Graham Goodlad analyses his extraordinary run of military successes in the decade between 1800 and 1810.
Military History Matters 142
• Napoleon at war: the rise of a military colossus
• The last Roman: Flavius Aetius versus Attila the Hun
• Winston at 150: Churchill and the code-breakers
• Hidden figures: native levies in foreign wars
• Thunder in the East: armoured warfare in Asia & the Pacific
• Flashman: scoundrel or hero?
Napoleon: Rise of a military colossus
In our special two-part feature in this issue, Graham Goodlad explores, first, the part played by Napoleon’s generalship in his progress from unknown artillery officer to ruler of France. Then he analyses in depth two battles Napoleon fought in his 1796-1797 Italian campaign.
Napoleon by numbers
Infographics: Calum Henderson
Miracle on the Marne
Graham Goodlad analyses the battle that saved Paris but initiated four years of trench warfare.
War on Film – Napoleon
TAYLOR DOWNING reviews the latest film releases.
Deciphering the decipherers: Young Versus Champollion
The rivalry between Young and Champollion in the race to translate Egyptian hieroglyphs is legendary. But what motivated these two scholars, and what qualities did they bring to the endeavour? Andrew Robinson goes in search of the personalities behind an extraordinary intellectual achievement.
How studying sinuses can enhance our understanding of human evolution
The way these features changed in size and shape across ancient human species can provide important information about how their skulls changed over time
The secrets of church walls
had King Charles been in need of distraction or amusement during his Coronation in May 2023, he could have done worse than study all the graffiti carved into the woodwork of the Coronation Chair
New exhibition at Notre-Dame tells the story of its reconstruction
Among the objects on show are the pipes from the cathedral’s great organ and a stained-glass panel from the cloister of the sacristy
The Battle of Baugé, 1421: when the Scots saved France
One of the bloodiest encounters between Scottish and English armies took place not on British soil – but in northern France, as part of the Hundred Years War. William E Welsh describes the events that lead to the Battle of Baugé, on 22 March 1421.
Napoleon: The decline and fall of an empire, 1811-1821 Michael Broers
REVIEW BY ANDRÉ VAN LOON Napoleon: the decline and fall of an empire is the compelling, if partial, closing volume of Michael Broers’ Napoleon trilogy. It marks the end of more than a decade of Napoleon-centred writing for Broers, Professor…
Major progress made in restoring Notre-Dame de Paris for reopening in 2024
Reconstruction of the collapsed stone vault in the north transept of the cathedral has now been completed.
Stained-glass windows of Notre-Dame Cathedral restored following fire
Although none of the stained-glass windows were destroyed or damaged by the fire, many of them, already dusty, were exposed to smoke and soiled as a result.
Medieval tombs discovered beneath Notre-Dame
Among the discoveries were a large number of fragments of Notre-Dame de Paris’ lost medieval rood screen.
War of words – ‘SIEGE’
‘Siege’ derives from the Old French sege and had appeared in English by the 14th century.
Institutions acquire new artworks inspired by the ancients
A rare history painting by the French artist Marie-Guillemine Benoist (1768-1826) has recently joined the collections of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Taking Paris: the epic battle for the City of Lights
‘General Erwin Rommel has had a very busy weekend.’ So begins Martin Dugard’s latest book, Taking Paris. And immediately the reader knows two things. Firstly, the book does not only describe the August 1944 campaign for the French capital. Originally…
Back to the Drawing Board: the Paris Gun
Although the design was an amazing technological achievement for its day, it was little more than a very expensive propaganda weapon.
Pre and Protohistoric Stone Architectures: comparisons of the social and technical contexts associated to their building
Generically, monuments are organised using four recognised architectural elements: the mound, the entrance or façade, the passage, and the chamber. I suppose a fifth element could be landscape. These clear building traits are repeated across much of Atlantic Europe. However, there…
Napoleon’s tomb
Finally completed in April 1861,Napoleon’s remains were transferred into this huge object of red aventurine quartzite from a quarry in northern Russia.
Mission France
Despite the deserved praise for Special Operations Executive members Violette Szabo and Noor Inayat Khan, many of its other agents are forgotten. Kate Vigurs here attempts to redress the balance, looking at the widely varying experiences of all 39 women…
SAS: Band of Brothers
Review of 'SAS: Band of Brothers' by Damien Lewis.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Viollet-le-Duc needed connections: he had elected not to study architecture, preferring to learn on the job.
Saving Notre Dame
When flames ripped through the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in April 2019, the world feared for its survival. Now a small team of scientists is working towards its restoration and discovering secrets along the way. Christa Lesté-Lasserre spoke to some of them about their work and its challenges.