Napoleon III
The Franco-Prussian war changed the map of Europe – so why are we so ignorant about it?
Rachel Chrastil describes how Bismarck, relying on Gallic pride to provoke the war he wanted, ensured that France would fight without a single ally
Paris's glittering new museums
The refurbishment of Paris’s galleries and museums continues apace, with money no object, finds Rupert Christiansen
Emperor for three years: the doomed reign of Maximilian I of Mexico
On 8 April 1864 an Austrian archduke with a penchant for daydreaming agreed to be emperor of Mexico. As Edward…
Baron Haussmann: the man who set Paris straight
Rupert Christiansen’s City of Light opens on the evening of 5 January 1875, with the inauguration of Paris’s new opera…
London calling
Madame Monet was bored. Wouldn’t you have been? Exiled to London in the bad, cold winter of 1870–71. In rented…
Paris: a beautiful, damned city
The much-lamented journalist and bon viveur Sam White, late of the rue du Bac, The Spectator and the Evening Standard,…
A short history of statue-toppling
Sculptural topplings provide an index of changing times, says Martin Gayford
The Armour at Langham Hotel reviewed: three new playlets that never get going
One of last year’s unexpected treasures was a novelty show by Defibrillator that took three neglected Tennessee Williams plays, all…
The Paris of Napoleon III was one big brothel – which is why the future Edward VII loved it
Stephen Clarke lives in Paris and writes book with titles such as 1,000 Years of Annoying the French. Dirty Bertie…
