napoleon

The genius of Eugène François Vidocq lay in one simple principle. In order to catch a criminal, you had to be able think like a criminal. And in his case that was easy, because he was one. He’s sometimes referred to as “the French Jonathan…

There are always those who see opportunity in chaos. The destruction of the old order leaves gaps that need filling, and “men of vision” see nobody better than themselves to fill those gaps. This does require a certain moral flexibility, of…

Stanley Kubrick hoarded boxes of research materials and screenplay drafts. A lot of boxes, accumulated over decades of work, as the Jon Ronson documentary Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes showed. In a way, they are the raw material of his legacy;…

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in 1754 and died in 1838. He lived through probably the most significant period in French history, and was involved in it throughout. In this he is practically unique, as nobody else managed…