Archives mensuelles : janvier 2022

Robert Poole, ‘After Peterloo: the British Risings of 1819-20’ (3 fév.)

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Maison de la Recherche, 28 rue Serpente, Paris 6e, de 17h à 18h30

(La séance aura lieu en présentiel uniquement).

Jeudi 3 février à 17h, salle D040 : Robert Poole (University of Central Lancashire), ‘After Peterloo: the British Risings of 1819-20’.

 

Abstract

The nine months after the ‘Peterloo massacre’ of 16 August 1819 saw a dramatic series of mass protests and attempted uprisings. The best known are those described in Malcolm Chase’s book 1820:  the Cato Street conspiracy to assassinate the government in London, and the subsequent rebellions in Yorkshire, Ireland, and Scotland. 1819 however saw an extensive series of protests which continued and intensified the ‘mass platform’ movement which led up to Peterloo.  These varied from official town and county meetings sanctioned by local authorities to secretive gatherings in the north intended to set off armed uprisings. This paper will look at the connections between the mass platform movement and the armed conspiracies, asking: how close did Britain come to revolution after Peterloo? 

History of Parliament video: ‘What Happened After Peterloo?’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLl_RA4kxs0

 

Matilda Greig, “Napoleonic War Veterans and the Military Memoir Industry, 1808-1914” (27 jan.)

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Jeudi 27 janvier à 17h : Matilda Greig (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelone), autour de son  livre, Dear Men Telling Tales: Napoleonic War Veterans and the Military Memoir Industry, 1808-1914 (Oxford, 2021)

As Napoleon’s wars drew to a close in 1815, a series of ripples flowed out into the publishing world. Veterans of the different campaigns had begun releasing memoirs of their experiences, in greater numbers than ever before, and with the help of descendants, publishers and translators, the tide would continue until well into the twentieth century. In this discussion of my book, Dead Men Telling Tales: Napoleonic War Veterans and the Military Memoir Industry, 1808-1914 (Oxford University Press, 2021), I explore the impact these personal stories had upon the history and representation of this period. Taking the Peninsular War as my case study, I show how the ‘soldier’s tale’ evolved differently in Spain versus France and Britain, how national histories of the same war remained starkly opposing over time, and how veterans themselves played an active role in the publication of their work. I conclude by considering the ironic legacy these books and their lasting commercial success left for the First World War generation – a myth of war as a positive, exciting and masculine experience, where quick victory was possible and glory could be won.