Web site devoted to Napoleon

In addition to thousands of books about Napoleon, you can find a lot of background material on the web. Napoleon.org is a web site devoted to all things Napoleonic (including the Second Empire of his nephew, Napoleon III). You can find a wealth of on-line material covering every possible aspect of Napoleon, although it is clearly aimed at admirers of Bonaparte. It also has material aimed at children. It is regularly updated, and includes monthly highlight topics.

It is sponsored by the Foundation Napoleon, which describes itself as "a registered charity committed to the encouragement of the study of and interest in the history of the First and Second Empires and the preservation of Napoleonic heritage."

One of the most interesting features of the web site is an animated time line covering the period from 1769 (Napoleon's birth) to 1879 (the death of Napoleon III's heir). You can very easily browse through the dates and get more details on events in four categories: politics, battles, economy & society, and arts & sciences. Very well implemented.

Do you have a different favorite on-line resource? Share it by entering a comment to this post.

Audience Survey Results

We received 138 responses to our on-line Audience Survey. 41% came from regular Humanities West attendees, 33% from occasional attendees, 12% from first or second time attendees, and 14% from people who have never been to a program.

The clear winner among the 14 programs proposed was Queen of the Adriatic: The Venetian Republic and Empire. The next four highest ranking programs were tightly clustered in the scoring:

• Uncovering the Past: The Rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum
• Henry VIII's London: The Birth of Modern England
• Toledo and the Triumph of Cultural Coexistence in Spain
• Isle of the Minotaur: Minoan Crete and the Dawn of European Civilization

Since our 2009-10 season is already fully defined and scheduled, the results of this Survey will influence our 2010-11 season. The Humanities West Board is currently fleshing out some of these program ideas to determine the feasibility of putting on a stimulating, but cost-effective program. We expect three of these top five candidates to be selected for the 2010-11 season.

In addition to these voting results, we received 98 suggestions for future programs from 46 different people, as well as 51 general comments about Humanities West. Many of the suggestions and comments were very thoughtful and interesting, and all of the inputs have been consolidated and distributed to the entire Board of Directors for their review.

We would like to thank all of those who participated in the Survey. If you have any feedback about either the process or the results, please enter your comments by clicking on the word "comments" just below this entry.

Short resource list for "Confronting Napoleon" program.

The next program, coming up in just a few weeks, deals with Napoleon's impact on European culture.

It has been said that more books have been written about Napoleon than about any other man, except for Jesus Christ, and our extended reading list contains a number a massive biographies and histories that could keep the average reader busy for years. If, on the other hand, you are simply looking for relatively quick and painless ways to broaden your understanding of Napoleon and his impact on Europe, you might want to start with D. G. Wright's Napoleon and Europe (Seminar Studies in History series, Longman, 1984; 137pp), which combines 95 pages of balanced and concise narrative with a section of short document excerpts, an extensive bibliography, and a chronology. Alexander Grab's Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe (European History in Perspective series, Palgrave, 2003; 249pp; also available in Kindle format) provides separate chapters for each major country, clearly showing how Napoleon's impact was always a mixture of modernizing reform and Franco-centric exploitation.

For those who want to know more about the central figure of the age, Vincent Cronin's Napoleon (Harpercollins, 1995; 400pp) offers a balanced, but basically positive account of his life, without dwelling on the minutiae of his military exploits. Paul Johnson's short biography, Napoleon: A Life (Penguin Lives series, paperback 2006; 208pp; also available in Kindle format and as an audiobook) challenges the hero-worshiping view of Napoleon, seeing him as an essentially negative precursor to the traumatic era of European conflicts in the 20th century. PBS Home Video also has a four-hour documentary Napoleon (2000; re-released 2006 as part of the Empires series) available from Netflix or Amazon.

Two of our speakers have also made significant contributions of the history of Napoleonic Europe, with Steven Englund's Napoleon: A Political Life (Harvard U. Press, pb 2005; 600pp) and Juan Cole's Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East (Palgrave, pb 2008; 304pp; also available as an audiobook).

If you purchase any of these books (or any other items) through our Amazon link, a small percentage of the purchase price is donated to Humanities West, at no extra cost to you. A painless way to give.

Review of Humanities West and India Rising

Another enthusiastic review of Humanities West in general and India Rising in particular has been posted on The Irascible Chef web site. One brief excerpt:

"I am lucky enough to have been the guest at several Humanities West productions at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

The interesting things I’ve learned, the energy that has been exposed, the pondering and thinking that has ensued—all of it, inspirational, on the learning front.

I have heard experts speak on subjects like Genghis Khan and his Empire, Benjamin Franklin and his letters, and recently India Rising Tradition meets Modernity. (Napoleon is up next)

Humanities West has brought together the people who have made these subjects their life’s work and gotten them to share their knowledge with the world."

India Rising: Tradition Meets Modernity

We hope you found India Rising: Tradition Meets Modernity both informative and entertaining.

Please use the comment section to share your thoughts on this past weekend's program.