Jacques-Olivier Boudon (Ed.) : Napoléon et les lycées (Napoleon and Secondary Schools)

Among the enduring foundations of the Consulate and the Empire, the creation of secondary schools remains one of the most symbolic. Yet the “Lycée” innovates only partially; it is indeed the heir of both the “college” of the Ancien Régime and the “école centrale” erected under the Directory. However, it serves a specific political project, to train the elite of the new state. This book offers a series of unpublished studies on various aspects of school policy of the Empire which confirms the importance in the regime of the dissemination of knowledge. Through his scolastic work, Napoleon emerges as a man of the Enlightenment.