Just a reminder that if you're going away this summer a book is essential. Luckily, The People's Emperor: The Unlikely Rise and Spectacular Fall of Napoleon III is out on 2 July - pre-order it now! waterstones.com/book/the-peo...

Napoleon III's wife, Eugénie, had a long life after the French Empire ended in 1870. During the First World War, she turned her cavernous mansion, Farnborough Hill, into a hospital for convalescing soldiers. Here she is pictured with the woman who helped run it, Lady Haig, wife of the Field Marshal.

Beyond thrilled and somewhat emotional to see the magnificent cover for my next book, The People's Emperor: The Unlikely Rise and Spectacular Fall of Napoleon III. It's out in July and it would be remiss of me not to mention it's available to pre-order now!

It's coming soon(ish) now. Under the watchful eye of the uncle, final proofs...

Palmerston strong in response to the Monroe Doctrine: "You will observe that in the first place the British government has not acknowledged and never can acknowledge the doctrine or principle laid down by President Madison [sic]". Deliberately forgetful or wonderfully ignorant?

Top satire from Henri Rochefort writing under Napoleon III: ‘I have been accused of being an enemy of the state.’ Yet ‘I am deeply Bonapartist, but permit me to choose my hero: Napoléon II. What a reign, my friends, no taxes, no useless wars. Oh yes, Napoléon II, I love him’.

Elected monarch embarks on regime change in Latin America - sounds like a familiar story.

2 December must be like Christmas, Easter and birthday all rolled into one for Bonapartists - absolutely massive day. Napoleon's coronation as emperor, then Austerlitz. Later, Napoleon III's coup d'état in 1851 and proclamation of the Second Empire the next year.

'The Real American Revolution' - My thoughts on Paul Gillingham's superb Mexico: A History in The Literary Reviewhttps://literaryreview.co.uk/the-real-american-revolution

There's an argument to say that the entire French Second Empire was an elaborate game of Where's Wally so it's nice to see all the beautiful people dancing the night away in 1870 to a band called the Third Republic.

The last two in Edmond Guillaume's geniuses of death series lamenting the Franco-Prussian War: Kaiser Wilhelm I, more of a non-executive director of death, and Pope Pius IX, a slightly tangential inclusion, but I'm sure he's flattered to be amongst such expert practitioners.

More from the ever-cheerful geniuses of death series, this time a true genius of death: Otto von Bismarck, who engineered the Franco-Prussian War.

Napoleon III as depicted in Edmond Guillaume's ‘geniuses of death' series caricaturing those responsible for the Franco-Prussian war - note the emperor's ubiquitous cigarette.

A confident uncle Napoleon on the past, present and future here

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of The Death of Trotsky by Josh Ireland. It's an incredible story and the book is an absolute cracker, highly recommended. You can (and should) pre-order a copy now: www.waterstones.com/book/the-dea...

The Empress Eugenie's tiara was stolen from the Louvre? Surely a case for Napoleon III, policeman. He enrolled as a special constable while exiled in London before a Chartist demonstration in April 1848.

Not known for his decisive military leadership, you don't get much more brilliant pointing than this: Napoleon III showing exactly what needs to be taken at the battle of Solferino against the Austrians in 1859. My recreation of this moment is quite frankly uncanny.

“I felt – I do not know how to express it – safe with him.” Queen Victoria enjoys an unlikely holiday romance with none other than Napoleon III at the Paris Exposition universelle in 1855.

In 1812, Jerome Bonaparte abandoned Napoléon's invasion of Russia. In 1854, his son, Plon-Plon, was much vilified for fleeing Crimea. "Voilà, the French,” Jerome said defending his son, “already throwing stones at this poor child who has not seen his mistress in months”.

On 20 April 1855, Napoleon III was on a state visit to Britain (it was also his birthday). Queen Victoria and the French emperor visited Crystal Palace, where this picture was taken. Victoria was amused, recording that crowds cried "Vive le Hempereur", in cockney English!”

"Really, to think of a Gd Daughter of George IIIrd, dancing with the nephew of our great enemy, the Empr Napoleon now my most firm Ally, in the Waterloo Gallery, — is incredible!" Queen Victoria records her thoughts during Napoléon III's 1855 state visit. I wonder if Charles will dance with Macron?

In preparation for visiting Waterloo (battlefield, not station), I've finished Michael Broers superb biography of Napoleon, thrilling account of the battle. Not sure whether it's an age thing, but I find myself wondering for the first time, who was Napoleon's best marshal?

On 19 June 1867 Ferdinand Maximilian, emperor of Mexico to his supporters, was executed by firing squad. If you want to learn more about this astonishing tale and the story behind the Manet painting, come to the National Gallery tomorrow, 20 June: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/talks...

Years ahead of its time, Alphonse de Neuville's 1873 painting The Last Cartridges perfectly captures that feeling of despair when you realise the printer has run out of ink.

Delighted to be speaking at the National Gallery on 20 June as part of their (free!) Friday Lates programme. Come look at Manet's Execution of Maximilian and find out why an Austrian Archduke was killed in Mexico: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/talks...

What's interesting about this is neither of us thought we'd end up in Farnborough.

What better backdrop to tell the story of a doomed Habsburg archduke than the magnificent Execution of Maximilian by Edouard Manet? Come along and listen to the history behind the painting, it's free!: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/talks...

"The Emperor chatted during dinner with the complete ease ... there was about him not the slightest touch of the parvenu." In her memoirs, Pauline von Metternich helpfully reminds readers that Napoleon III was a parvenu by saying that he was not a parvenu.

I know targeted advertising and algorithms are getting ever more sophisticated but, even so, I'm impressed Lockheed Martin knew I was in the market for a new fighter jet.

The results of the 19 October 1860 hunt at Versailles are finally in! I know some people question the relevance of history, but this kind of important, ground-breaking research should put that one to rest.

@edwardshawcross.bsky.social schreef hier een prachtig boek over en ik vertaalde het in het Nederlands www.arianverheij.nl/pub_details&...

With the US riven by civil war, Napoleon III seized the opportunity to install an emperor in #Mexico. Maximilian’s new regime soon fell apart in a catastrophic manner. ⌛ Last chance to read this archive article for free buff.ly/nxv0vMu

Having spent so much time reading about France in 1870, imagine my astonishment to read this about France in 1914: "the French suffered from … lack of essential equipment, particularly heavy artillery, and from training better suited to the parade ground ... than modern warfare."

Well, well, well. Kaiser Wilhelm II meeting the former French empress Eugénie on her yacht in 1907. I hope the Kaiser thanked her for all her husband did to create Germany.

At times like this, I'm sure all our thoughts turn towards the Cobden-Chevalier treaty which lowered tariffs between Britain and France. Signed in 1860, it was deeply unpopular in France where it was labelled an economic coup d'état - look how excited the negotiators are!

Journalism was journalism back in the day. "Our readers may have read the above report of the lunch. Since all our staff attended this meal ... this explains how an error could have slipped into our columns that, otherwise, would not have escaped us." Admirable honesty here from Le Figaro in 1873.

Once you've taken in the marvellous José María Velasco exhibition at the National Gallery, you'll want to stop off at the gift to shop to learn more about nineteenth-century Mexico. Of course, there's a certain Manet painting to look at as well...

I was lucky enough to get a preview of the fantastic exhibition of Mexican artist José María Velasco at the National Gallery. Two especially stunning paintings on display are The Valley of Mexico from the Hill of Santa Isabel and the hauntingly beautiful Great Comet of 1882.

This promises to be brilliant and well worth a visit. First UK exhibition of hugely influential nineteenth-century Mexican artist José María Velasco at the National Gallery: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

To my mind, few monuments capture the majesty of monarchy as perfectly as the Unigate Foods Melksham plinth.

In what is today South Africa, after Zulu warriors killed the Prince Imperial, Napoléon IV to his followers, they stripped his body naked. In the nearby bloodied grass, they left a blue sock emblazoned with 'N' for Napoléon.

How does Bonapartism end? On 1 June 1879 in South Africa, the self-titled Napoléon IV is killed in British army uniform fighting in the Anglo-Zulu War. I bet the first Napoléon didn't see that one coming, or Queen Victoria paying for this memorial.

I see Putin has reminded Macron of Napoléon's invasion of Russia in 1812. Not the first Russian leader to try that, here's Tsar Nicholas I warning Napoleon III that if he invaded Russia in 1854, he'd find it the same as in 1812....

A lot being made of Trump not greeting Macron at the White House, but exactly the same thing happened when Napoleon III's cousin Plon-Plon went in 1861. “One walks straight in, like a café” noted a disgusted Plon-Plon.

With Macron in Washington, time to remind ourselves of when Napoléon III's cousin Plon-Plon visited in 1861. One of the great bodily mismatches in history, angry and dressed in a tailcoat, the short, corpulent Plon-Plon resembled an irritated penguin meeting Abraham Lincoln.

Strong nineteenth-century vibes to the leading UK news stories today: emergency diplomatic summit for European leaders in Paris, updates on the health of the Pope and something about the Princess of Wales and her children.

Napoleon III loved an emergency European conference in Paris. He even thought one might get him out of the Franco-Prussian war and cried when he came up with the idea, but, as with most of his conferences, no one else wanted it. The 1856 one ending the Crimean War did go well though...

A ghostly pale Napoléon on the cover to an 1893 edition of the Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène.

Tough letter to receive as a parent: “My dear Maman, you must have been so worried at not receiving my news … But your worry will be doubled when you learn that I attempted an uprising in Strasbourg that has failed. I am in prison." That's Louis-Napoléon writing to his mother.

Prince Albert did not hold Napoleon III in high regard, calling him “a walking lie” and insisting that “once a conspirator, always a conspirator.” Here they are together at Boulogne in 1854. "He does not look so old or pale as his portraits make him," was Albert's insight.