The Siècle History Podcast
The Siècle is a history podcast covering France's overlooked century between Napoleon and World War I. Visit thesiecle.com for annotated scripts, pictures, maps, sources and more.
Episodes
January 21, 2019 • 7 mins
What exactly is The Siècle? An introduction to the new podcast chronicling French history between Napoleon and the First World War. Find out more at thesiecle.com.
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January 21, 2019 • 22 mins
The Siècle begins in the year 1814. Napoléon has abdicated, and the Bourbons are back in charge of France. Here's how they screw it up, the first scene in our century-long saga of a country at war with itself. Find out more at thesiecle.com.
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February 6, 2019 • 22 mins
Napoleon returns from exile to reclaim his throne, and Louis flees into exile. But as diplomats scheme for advantage, the fate of France will be settled on the fields of Waterloo. Find out more at thesiecle.com/episode2.
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February 20, 2019 • 30 mins
What kind of kingdom had Louis XVIII managed to win after Waterloo, anyway? We take a tour of France in 1815, from its mountains and rivers to its hardscrabble peasants, wine-trading merchants and imperious nobles. Follow along with vital maps at thesiecle.com/episode3!
Like what you hear? Support the show on Patreon!
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March 4, 2019 • 2 mins
Napoleon's famous Hundred Days, told in Simpsons GIFs, the format these epic events have been waiting two centuries for. Special bonus The Siècle content available now at http://thesiecle.com/supplemental1/.
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March 6, 2019 • 24 mins
Paris in 1815 was a city of intense contradictions, where shining palaces and squalid slums sat right next door to each other. Meet the city that is not yet the City of Light at the dawn of the Restoration. Follow along with maps at thesiecle.com/episode4!
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March 20, 2019 • 37 mins
France plunges into violence after the final fall of Napoleon. Featuring: invasion, murder, treason, extortion, art theft, 300 million bottles of wine, rude drinking songs and seditious chickens.
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April 3, 2019 • 41 mins
After Waterloo, France was invaded by a huge multinational foreign army — and they didn't leave for more than three years. Learn more about the facts and consequences of this occupation in an interview with Prof. Christine Haynes, author of a recent book on the subject.
Visit thesiecle.com for a transcript, pictures, and a link to buy the book.
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April 19, 2019 • 26 mins
After the fall of Napoleon, France got a new constitution — one full of contradictions. Learn about The Charter, a constitution literally for the 1%.
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May 2, 2019 • 25 mins
The restored king of France, Louis XVIII, faces a stiff challenge from the parliament he just created. But these champions of parliamentary power aren't who might expect.
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May 21, 2019 • 29 mins
Meet the "legitimists," the group of right-wing ultra-royalists who would have a profound influence on 19th Century French politics. Champions of natural order and Catholicism, liberty and inequality, they had a sophisticated philosophy rooted in opposing the evils of the Enlightenment and Revolution.
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June 7, 2019 • 21 mins
The early 19th Century writer and statesman Chateaubriand was a keen (if biased) observer of many of the events chronicled in The Siècle — and a top-notch writer, to boot! In this bonus episode, I present an excerpt from Chateaubriand's memoirs, including his thoughts on Napoleon, Louis XVIII, censorship and France's constitutional monarchy.
As always, visit thesiecle.com for full transcript, annotations and illustrations.
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June 19, 2019 • 27 mins
The silent majority of Restoration France were the peasants, the small farmers scraping out a living across its varied countryside. Learn who these peasants were, how they worked, and how they survived.
Visit thesiecle.com for bonus information, pictures and charts.
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July 10, 2019 • 54 mins
An epic episode covering the little-known story of the time an Indonesian volcano caused worldwide harvest failures and massive social unrest, including in a France still recovering from the chaos and devastation of the Napoleonic Wars.
Visit thesiecle.com for bonus information, pictures and charts.
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July 24, 2019 • 39 mins
An interview with Philip Mansel, author of several books about 19th Century France, including a biography of Louis XVIII. We discuss the life and personality of France's restored Bourbon king.
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September 4, 2019 • 29 mins
An introduction to Restoration France's illustrious — and not-so-illustrious — royal family circa 1816, including a little too much genealogy and a surprising amount of absurdly petty snubs.
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September 22, 2019 • 17 mins
A look behind the scenes of The Siècle, including how I research, record and edit episodes, and a closer look at a few of the sources I use to research the podcast. Brought to you by the show's supporters on Patreon.
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October 18, 2019 • 47 mins
Restoration politics becomes a three-way battle for supremacy between liberals, Ultra-royalists, and "Ministerials" — until a shocking crime changes everything.
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November 11, 2019 • 21 mins
A second part of my interview with historian Philip Mansel discusses Franco-British relations during the first half of the 19th Century, as a century-plus of military rivalry turns into something much more complex. Brought to you by the show's supporters on Patreon.
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November 26, 2019 • 34 mins
France swings hard to the right, as the government passes new repressive laws and the nation celebrates the birth of a Bourbon 'miracle child.' Pushed back on their heels, the French left turns to conspiracy.
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