The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast

In this wide-ranging conversation, Cameron reconnects with historian and longtime friend J. David Markham on the eve of his 80th birthday. They reflect on two decades of working together on the Napoleon podcast, swap family updates, and dive into Markham’s latest projects—including his forthcoming book Simply Caesar and several Napoleonic works in progress. The discussion […] The post Napoleon #62 – 20 Years of Napoleon and Friendship appeared first on Napoleon.

Join J. David Markham and Cameron Reilly as they re-unite after nearly a decade to dissect the travesty that is Ridley Scott's 2023 film, "Napoleon". The post Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #61 – Ridley’s Travesty appeared first on Napoleon.

After a break of 3.5 years, WE’RE BACK, BABY! Sir J. David Markham – yes, he’s an actual KNIGHT now (see photo below) –  and Cameron Reilly are back with a brand new episode. And what brought the show out of retirement, we hear you ask? The wonderful new 800-page biography by Andrew Roberts “Napoleon The Great”, we reply.   Andrew joined us from NYC to explain how he manages to both be British *and* a fan of Napoleon; why Napoleon was a funny dude who cracked jokes even while on the battlefield; why Napoleon wasn’t the evil warmonger he’s often portrayed as by the British; why his marriage to Josephine wasn’t Romeo & Juliette; and what his biggest mistake was. Andrew’s book has recently been awarded the Grand Prix prize by the Fondation Napoleon and as of this Saturday will be listed in the NY Times bestseller lists (which, as you can probably guess, doesn’t happen with Napoleonic books very often).

Here’s a plug for the Life Of Caesar podcast, hosted by Cameron and Ray Harris. It’s been going since Dec ’13, has about 80,000 listeners and ranks in the Top 100 podcasts in the USA, UK, AUS and CAN, so check it out! The post Check Out The Caesar Show appeared first on Napoleon.

Hey folks! It’s been nearly 18 months since the last podcast! Can you believe it!? This is a special episode to celebrate and promote a special Napoleonic event that is currently happening in Melbourne – Napoleon: Revolution to Empire. I had the chance today to chat with Sophie Matthiesson, one of the curators at the National Gallery of Victoria. We spoke about how the exhibition came to be, a bit about some of the pieces on display (such as the wonderful “Napoleon Crossing The Alps” by David) and what she hopes people who attend the exhibition will learn about Napoleon. I highly recommend attending the exhibition if you can and, if you can’t, at least check out the NGV website to read up on the exhibition. The post Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #59 – Napoleon @ The NGV appeared first on Napoleon.

Welcome back! I know, I know, it’s been 8 months since our last podcast. Sorry folks. On this episode, our special guest is again Nicholas Stark, a 20-year-old wunderkind who David and I first met in Paris back in 2008, and who is studying at West Chester University in Philadelphia and a Fellow of the […] The post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #58 – Wolfe Tone & The Irish Rebellions 1796-98 appeared first on Napoleon.

And once again we are fortunate to have Nicholas Stark back on the show to finish our series on Napoleon and Haiti. Today we focus on the claims that Napoleon directly ordered atrocities to be committed in Haiti. Did Napoleon, as Claude Ribbe claims, invent the gas chamber? (We find no evidence for that.) Did […] The post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #57 – Haiti Pt 3 appeared first on Napoleon.

We’re back with Nicholas Stark to discuss St. Domingo / Haiti and Napoleon’s reinstitution of slavery in 1802. Was Toussaint L’Overture really a “saint” (his name translates as “all saints” or “all souls opening”)? Was Napoleon really a racist? Nick does another amazing job of delving into the primary sources from this period to paint […] The post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #56 – Nick Stark on Haiti (Part Two) appeared first on Napoleon.

WELCOME BACK! I know – it’s been a long, long…. long time! But we are glad to be back! On this episode, our special guest is Nicholas Stark, a 19-year-old wunderkind who David and I first met in Paris back in 2008. Nicholas is an undergraduate at West Chester University and a Fellow of the […] The post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #55 – Nicholas Stark on Napoleon and Haiti (part one) appeared first on Napoleon.

Our own J. David Markham was recently interviewed on Australian radio regarding a lock of Napoleon’s hair recently found in Sydney’s town hall. Listen to David’s interview here! The post David Markham on Australia’s ABC Radio appeared first on Napoleon.

Welcome back! It’s been a long time between shows, I’m so sorry! But you’ll LOVE this episode, trust me, it was worth waiting for! Our guest today is Dr Philip Dwyer, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education and Arts, School of Humanities and Social Science, History Dept, University of Newscastle, Australia. Philip has a long list […] The post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #54 – Dr Philip Dwyer appeared first on Napoleon.

We’re very lucky to have Alexander Mikaberidze back to discuss a few more important Russian generals and the crossing of the Berezina.       The post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #53 – Alex Mikaberidze part 4 appeared first on Napoleon.

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 post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #52 – Alex Mikaberidze on The Russian Generals appeared first on Napoleon.

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 […] The post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast 51 – Alex Mikaberidze on The Burning of Moscow appeared first on Napoleon.

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 post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast 50 – Guest Alex Mikaberidze on Napoleon and Alexander appeared first on Napoleon.

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 […] The post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #49 – Michael Kroger appeared first on Napoleon.

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 t

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 post The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #47 – Louis Davout, The Iron Marshal appeared first on Napoleon.

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 mu

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 H