This book is about a major historical figure, Napoleon III, and a political regime. It examines how Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (nephew of the first Napoleon) was able to secure election as President of the Republic and subsequently to launch a coup d'état to establish a Second Empire. It then considers the ways in which power was exercised by the new imperial regime. Later, apparent stability led Napoleon III to engage in a difficult process of transition towards a more liberal regime; but at the point of success the decision was taken to go to war against Prussia which resulted in a catastrophic defeat and the destruction of his regime. This is a most thoroughly researched book on the Second Empire, which makes a contribution to our knowledge of a vitally important period of French history following the 1848 revolution and the intense mid-century crisis.
- A major contribution to the history of the Second Empire in France, a crucial topic in modern French and European history
- Based on hitherto unequalled archival research as well as on massive secondary sources
- Handles a complex weave of themes and personalities with skill and clarity
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Reviews & endorsements
'… a major achievement … It will surely - and deservedly - be regarded as the standard work on the 'anatomy' of a political system now receiving its due attention.' H-FRANCE
'This book should prove to be invaluable to serious students and scholars of the French Second empire for many years to come … an absolute must for any and all serious students of the ill-fated Second Empire and its often (and to a degree overly) maligned emperor, Napoleon III.' History
'… a monumental achievement.' The Times Literary Supplement
'… wide-ranging and remarkably enjoyable.' Graham Robb, London Review of Books
'… Prices's study lies … in his impressive mastery of detail and in how he manages to clothe the bones of his subject with a wealth of information and illustrative material from an astonishingly wide range of sources.' History
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Product details
- Date Published: May 2007
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521036320
- length: 520 pages
- dimensions: 228 x 150 x 26 mm
- weight: 0.76kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. The Rise of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte:
1. President of the Republic
Part II. State and Society:
2. Napoleon III and the Bonapartist state
3. The system of government
4. The management of elections
5. Preserving public order
6. Constructing moral order
7. Creating the conditions for prosperity
Conclusion to part II
Part III. The Rise of Opposition:
8. The context for opposition
9. The forms of opposition (1) legitimism
10. The forms of opposition (2) liberalism
11. The forms of opposition (3) republicans in the aftermath of the coup d'état
12. The forms of opposition (4) the republican revival
Conclusion to part III
Part IV. War and Revolution:
13. War and revolution
General conclusion
Select bibliography
Index.
Look Inside
Author
Roger Price, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Roger Price taught at the University of East Anglia, 1968–93, eventually becoming Professor of European History. In 1993 he moved to Aberystwyth as Professor of History. His many other books include The French Second Republic: A Social History (1972), Revolution and Reaction: 1848 and the French Second Republic (1975), The Modernisation of Rural France: Communication Networks and Agricultural Market Structures in Nineteenth-Century France (1983), A Social History of Nineteenth-Century France (1987), The Revolutions of 1848 (1988) and A Concise History of France (1993).