Juliette Glikman: La monarchie impériale. L’imaginaire politique sous Napoléon III (The imperial monarchy. Political imagination under Napoleon III)

Napoleon III reigned over France from 1852 to 1870, in a monarchy re-established by popular vote. Contrary to preconceptions, this book shows that the Second Empire is not a simple case of Caesarism supported by unreflecting citizens. Praise, acclamation, public addresses – all played their role in the consolidation of the dynasty. Invoking the principles of 1789, this hereditary system would eventually decline under the new ‘imperial democracy’ which linked faith in the monarchy and the rights of the people, the throne of Clovis and the electoral box. The Emperor, a true ‘elected prophet’, was more than a charismatic saviour, becoming sovereign, protective father-figure and herald of justice. He would revive a country battered by a half-century of civil conflict. The imperial imagination promotes the rebirth of this auspicious dynasty, at the heart of nineteenth-century France.

Paris: Fondation Napoléon – Nouveau Monde Editions, October 2013, Series Études. To order, click here: Nouveau Monde Editions.