The most documented account of the French occupation of Malta between 10 June 1798 when Napoleon landed on the island with his Army of the East, and 5 September 1800 when the French commander General Vaubois capitulated to British officials who had come to the assistance of Maltese insurgents.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge is best known as a great poet and literary theorist, but for one, quite short, period of his life he held real political power - acting as Public Secretary to the British Civil Commissioner in Malta in 1805. This was a formative experience for Coleridge which he later identified as being one of the most instructive in his entire life. In this volume Barry Hough and Howard Davis show how Coleridge's actions whilst in a position of power differ markedly from the idealism he had advocated before taking office - shedding new light on Coleridge's sense of political and legal morality.
This book is a chronological compilation of Bonaparte's orders issued during and after the invasion of Malta in 1798. He gave orders to capture Gozo, Mdina, St. Paul and of course the city of Valletta. Napoleon's orders were very specific in terms of how the French were to treat the Knights, the Maltese, and the clergy. They included radical health and education reforms intended to align Malta's administration to the new revolutionary ideology of the French republic. He abolished nobility and slavery. He reorganized the clergy and redefined its sphere of influence. He also ordered the removal of the Order's silver and other precious items from St. John's Cathedral in Valletta. The goal is not to judge, praise or criticize the French occupation of Malta, but to give the reader access to source documents and hopefully give some perspective to those momentous events that radically changed the course of Malta's history.
This book describes how the island of Malta became a protectorate of the British Crown during the wars against Napoleon after the failures of the Knights of Saint John, republican France, the Two Sicilies, and finally imperial Russia to fill the role of its best defender. Author Desmond Gregory also explains why most, though not all, Maltese people welcomed the protection of Britain, the supreme naval power in the Mediterranean after the battle of Aboukir Bay.
The Napoleonic Wars have an important place in the history of Europe, leaving their mark on European and world societies in a variety of ways. In many European countries they provided the stimulus for radical social and political change - particularly in Spain, Germany, and Italy - and are frequently viewed in these places as the starting point of their modern histories. In this Very Short Introduction, Mike Rapport provides a brief outline of the wars, introducing the tactics, strategies, and weaponry of the time. Presented in three parts, he considers the origins and course of the wars, the ways and means in which it was fought, and the social and political legacy it has left to the world today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
British Malta, 1798–1835 explores the incorporation and early administration of Malta as a British protectorate, and later as a Crown colony. Few connections existed between Great Britain and Malta before 1798, but Napoleon’s Mediterranean ambitions forged a link that remained even after the expulsion of the French. Malta’s incorporation into the British Empire encountered numerous and varied challenges: a deadly plague, diplomatic rows, economic rebuilding, continual food supply obstacles, and the unique challenge of governing a long-subjugated population. The Maltese people spent the previous 228 years ruled by an anachronistic crusading order that they were barred from joining. While most sought the protection of the British government, many also strove for more Maltese autonomy and agency. This tension helped define the first three and a half decades of British rule in Malta. Reaching beyond the traditional periodization of the Napoleonic era, this book provides a broader context of the fitful growth of the British Empire. Scholars and general readers drawn to the history of Malta, the British Mediterranean, and the expansion of the British Empire will find value in this narrative history.
In this vivid and timely history, Juan Cole tells the story of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. Revealing the young general's reasons for leading the expedition against Egypt in 1798 and showcasing his fascinating views of the Orient, Cole delves into the psychology of the military titan and his entourage. He paints a multi-faceted portrait of the daily travails of the soldiers in Napoleon's army, including how they imagined Egypt, how their expectations differed from what they found, and how they grappled with military challenges in a foreign land. Cole ultimately reveals how Napoleon's invasion, the first modern attempt to invade the Arab world, invented and crystallized the rhetoric of liberal imperialism.
This classic study of the French occupation of Egypt presents a lucid and comprehensive account of Napoleon’s stunning victories and devastating losses. Originally published in 1962, J. Christopher Herold's Bonaparte in Egypt is considered the definitive modern account of this extraordinary campaign. In an elegantly written and detailed study, Herold covers all aspects of Bonaparte's expedition: military, political, and cultural. Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Egypt was a bold adventure that reached the extremes of total triumph and utter defeat. Bonaparte won a decisive victory at the Battle of the Pyramids and quickly captured Cairo. But his fleet was completely destroyed by Admiral Nelson at Abukir Bay and his ambition to conquer the Holy Land was frustrated at Acre. Despite these reverses, Bonaparte returned to France where he was greeted as a hero and seized political power in 1799. His attempt to take permanent control of Egypt and Syria for France was a critical stage on his road to power, and it is one of the most revealing episodes in his spectacular career.