Napoleon is bored in a peacetime army and fills his time with writing and the study of military theory. He returns to Corsica for the first time since childhood. The revolution turns his political beliefs upside down. Also discussed: rich Uncle Luciano and artisanal, small-batch artillery
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Oct 2017
Episode Thirteen: The Coriscan Gracchi
The Bonaparte brothers launch their political careers with very mixed success, Paoli returns from exile a changed man, and we take a close look at the crooked, violent world of eighteenth century Corsican electoral campaigning. Also: Joseph Bonaparte birtherism Learn more about y ... Show More
34m 40s
Oct 2017
Episode Fourteen: The People's Army
Back on the mainland, 1792 saw the revolution face an existential crisis, which gave birth to a new new kind of army. Topics include Count Guibert and his theory of the citizen-soldier, the Battle of Valmy, and the foundation of the First Republic. Learn more about your ad choice ... Show More
39m 54s
Mar 2022
World Conquerors: Napoleon Pt. 1
As a young Corsican boy, Napoleon dreamed of his island’s independence from France. But by the time he reached 30 years old, with a military career inspired by the likes of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, he was a hero of France — and one of the country's most powerful men ... Show More
45m 43s
Nov 2023
383. Young Napoleon: The Shadow of the Guillotine (Part 2)
Within the turmoil of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte stands out to his military superiors, first by defeating the British at Toulon, then by putting down a royalist mob in Paris when outnumbered four to one, with a “whiff of grapeshot”. Having finally shaken off the hu ... Show More
51m 52s
Oct 2023
382. Young Napoleon: Teenage Revolutionary (Part 1)
“I would plunge the avenging dagger, up to the hilt, in the breast of the tyrant!”
Born in Corsica a year after the island was given to France by the Genoese, Napoleon Bonaparte grew up in a world of political and civil unrest. His father had close ties with the leader of the Cor ... Show More
46m 20s
Oct 2024
Napoleon Bonaparte Part 1: Started from the Bottom | 44
Napoleon Bonaparte is notorious for being a power-hungry, vertically-challenged French emperor who conquered, and then pissed off, much of Europe in the 19th century. But Napoleon wasn’t that short, wasn’t born in France, and actually wanted to be a writer. He was an upstart from ... Show More
43m 31s
Sep 2022
Napoleon Part 6: Showdown at Waterloo
With Napoleon deposed and in exile, it appears to be game over. But even now he is planning a comeback. After the mother of all prison breaks, Napoleon marches back up through France. Reinstating himself as emperor, he will rally his troops for one last battle...
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54m 59s
May 2018
Napoleon Bonaparte Was Attacked by Bunnies -- And Lost
Born in Corsica, Napoleon Bonaparte rose from obscurity during the French Revolution, crowning himself Emperor of France in 1804. This brilliant, ruthless tactician changed the course of French history. Despite his meteoric rise and bloodied fall, Bonaparte still needed to grab l ... Show More
35m 36s