Sudhir Hazareesingh Livres

"A biography of the Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture"--Provided by publisher

A biography of the Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture.

Sudhir Hazareesingh's How the French Think is a warm yet incisive exploration of the French intellectual tradition, and its exceptional place in a nation's identity and lifestyle. Why are the French an exceptional nation? Why do they think they are so exceptional? An important reason is that in France intellectual activity is regarded not just as the preserve of the thinking elite but for almost everyone. French thought can sometimes be austere and often opaque, yet it is undeniably bold and innovative, and driven by a relentless quest for the regeneration of humanity. Sudhir Hazareesingh traces its tumultuous history in an enormously enjoyable and highly original manner, showing how the French ways of thought and life connect. This will be one of the most revealing books written about them - or any other European country - for years. Sudhir Hazareesingh was born in Mauritius. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and has been a Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Balliol College, Oxford, since 1990. Among his books are The Legend of Napoleon (Granta, 2004) and Le Mythe gaullien (Gallimard, 2010). He won the Prix du Memorial d'Ajaccio and the Prix de la Fondation Napoleon for the first of these, and a Prix d'Histoire du Senat for the second.

Focusing on the writings and political practices of five influential nineteenth-century intellectuals, this study delves into the roots of modern republicanism in French political culture. By exploring the contributions of Jules Barni, Charles Dupont-White, Emile Littr, Eugène Pelletan, and Etienne Vacherot, the book offers a fresh perspective on the evolution of republican ideas and their impact on contemporary political thought in France.

The Second Empire (1852-1870) is examined as a pivotal moment in the evolution of French political culture, marking the emergence of participatory democracy. Sudhir Hazareesingh explores the collaboration of diverse political thinkers who engaged an educated public on citizenship and political order. The 1860s are highlighted as an intellectually vibrant decade where various ideologies addressed decentralization, leading to a deeper understanding of communal freedom and civic cohesion amid the rise of nationalism in France.

"God was bored with Napoleon" wrote Victor Hugo and as is well known, the Emperor was duly defeated at Waterloo in 1815 and exiled to St Helena, where he died an agonizing and horrifying death. The Emperor's real legacy is the modernizing and beautifying of Paris, the official promotion of religious tolerance, the current French legal and educational systems, and the European Union, to name but a few Napoleonic initiatives. And of course, the legend lives on. Drawing on new archival research, Hazareesingh traces not only the emergence of the Napoleonic myth and how it developed into a potent political culture, but also the amazing tenacity of popular affection for the emperor, manifest in countless busts and portraits in ordinary citizens' homes, grass-roots political activism, miraculous apparitions reported after his death, and the memories kept alive by thousands of imperial war veterans. This book is a timely study of why the fascination with Napoleon has endured for two centuries.