Do Not Visit St Helena: It can be very addictive
We first visited St Helena because of my interest in Napoleon's captivity on St Helena , and almost immediately we fell in love with the place and the people. Eighteen years and over 350 posts later,...
View ArticleJourney's End: - Le dernier Napoléon
"This last Napoleon is multifaceted. He is the one we like to imagine". When I first heard of the title I thought immediately of the oft-quoted monologue in As You Like it: All the world’s a stage, And...
View ArticleSt Helena Airport Revisited
Plane landing alongside a problematic rock It is almost eight years since I last blogged about the airport. Since then it has been operational, but a few fairly major problems remain, COVID has...
View ArticleNapoleon Symphony: "Can Burgess write on Napoleon? Of Corsican." (1)
Burgess's Novel published in 1974, based on the script he wrote for Kubrick Last year's Ridley Scott film on Napoleon inevitably triggered memories of Kubrick's ill-fated epic, abandoned half a century...
View ArticleMichael Broers on the Ridley Scott film
Having read so many bad reviews I decided not to bother with Ridley Scott's film, but I may be more interested in the four hour directors cut not yet released.The film apparently focused very much on...
View ArticleKensal Green Cemetery, St Helena and Napoleon
Kensal Green Cemetery, founded in 1833, is the oldest and apparently the most prestigious private cemetery in Britain. The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery have just released an article by Henry...
View ArticleThe Bulk Fuel Installation &"The Saint"
"The Saint" 12 January 2022 I rarely post about modern St Helena, but a recent edition of a new publication, The Saint reminded me of a story I came across when I visited a year ago. To put it simply,...
View ArticleNapoleon chez the Balcombes- A Review
Volume 3 of Michel Dancoisne-Martineau's series, Napoleon and St Helena, the end of an emperor.This volume provides a very comprehensive account of Napoleon's debarquement from the "Northumberland",...
View ArticleElba 1814: Napoleon meets a man from Bungay.
John Barber Scott (1792-1862) John Barber Scott was the much travelled son of a wealthy merchant from Bungay in Suffolk. His diaries, provide a fascinating glimpse of life in the Waveney valley in the...
View ArticleThe Man on the Rock - Kenneth Griffith (1975)
On our recent visit to St Helena we were privileged to be able to watch this powerful performance by Kenneth Griffith on a large screen. It first appeared in 1975, but has long since been forgotten,...
View ArticleSir Hudson Lowe and Antonomasia - A Review
Sir Hudson Lowe, Victime of St Helena by Michel Dancoisne-Martineau This book, one of a series of 12, is only available from the Longwood House souvenir shop on the island of St Helena. It contains...
View ArticleQueen Victoria and the Empress Eugénie
Queen Victoria's portrait of Eugénie, May 1855 By the last decades of the nineteenth century the Bonaparte family had gained legitimacy among Europe's rulers. No longer identified with opposition to...
View ArticleQueen Victoria, Count Walewski and a Famous Painting
Napoleon at Fontainebleau, 31 March 1814 Paul DelarocheThere appear to be a number of versions of Delaroche's painting of Napoleon's first abdication. One has been in the Musée de l'Armée in Paris...
View ArticleThe Bicentenary: An Update
Napoleon's Grave, St Helena, May 2021 After years of preparation, the disruption of the pandemic and the debate in France over Napoleon's legacy, the ceremonies on St Helena have now passed. In my...
View ArticleMay 5th: Thoughts on the Bicentenary of Napoleon's Death
The Centenary of Napoleon's Death, St Helena 1921Napoleon's Tomb, St HelenaDespite the pandemic an impressive programme has been planned on St Helena both at Longwood House and around the empty grave....
View ArticlePride of Place at Chartwell - Kent Bylines
The full article can be found onKent Bylines *****************************
View ArticlePrinces Caroline Murat: A Bonaparte in Suffolk
Memorial to Princess Caroline Laetitia Murat (1833-1902), Grand Niece of Napoleon, Ringsfield Church, Suffolk This remarkable memorial was erected to commemorate Caroline Laetitia Murat, granddaughter...
View ArticleBritain's Wars against Napoleon: Two Reviews
I have recently read two books with very different perspectives on the British Government's wars against Napoleon. David Andress intertwines diplomacy, war and the domestic challenges often brutally...
View ArticleThe Pen is Mightier than the Sword: St Helena, March 1820
Front cover, "The political house that Jack built", 1819In March 1820 a naval surgeon named McKenzie arrived on St Helena with a copy of the The political house that Jack built. (1) This pamphlet...
View ArticleNapoleon's Tomb St Helena, May 5th 2020.
Aujourd’hui, en hommage à l’Empereur… à Sainte Hélène. Posted by Domaines nationaux français à l'île de Sainte Hélène, Atlantique Sud on Monday, May 4, 2020Napoelon's Tomb, St Helena, May 5th 2020St...
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