French Revolution

The Water of Life

Paris was flooded with Eau de Cologne during the early years of Napoleon’s rule. Everyone was using it and everyone was selling it.

Terror and Oranges

Liberté, égalité, fraternité – oranges? What does Maximilien Robespierre’s fondness for citrus fruit reveal?

First step on the road to Waterloo

Marisa Linton explains how Jacques-Pierre Brissot helped to initiate the French revolutionary wars, as he and Robespierre debated whether conflict with Austria should be a ‘crusade for universal liberty’.

Madame de Staël: Emotion and Emancipation

Daughter of Necker of Geneva, twice French Minister of Finance, Germaine de Staël reflected in her life and writings the enthusiasm of the Revolutionary Age. By Douglas Hilt.