Description

Book Synopsis
Isolated in the vastness of the South Atlantic and fortress-like in appearance, the Island of St Helena was important for centuries only as a victualling station for ships of the British East India Company, on their long voyages to and from India via the Cape of Good Hope. It was on one of these journeys that Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, took note of the island's remote impregnability. It was Wellington who suggested St Helena as Napoleon Bonaparte's place of imprisonment and exile after his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Until his death in 1821, the former Emperor spent his final years under constant British guard. His exile transformed a speck on the maritime map into the most famous island in the world.

Trade Review
'Willms is a wry, entertaining commentator, properly suspicious of hagiography' -- Sara Wheeler The Guardian 20080816

Napoleon & St Helena: On the Island of Exile

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A Hardback by Johannes Willms, John Brownjohn

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    View other formats and editions of Napoleon & St Helena: On the Island of Exile by Johannes Willms

    Publisher: The Armchair Traveller at the Bookhaus
    Publication Date: 12/10/2008
    ISBN13: 9781905791545, 978-1905791545
    ISBN10: 1905791542

    Description

    Book Synopsis
    Isolated in the vastness of the South Atlantic and fortress-like in appearance, the Island of St Helena was important for centuries only as a victualling station for ships of the British East India Company, on their long voyages to and from India via the Cape of Good Hope. It was on one of these journeys that Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, took note of the island's remote impregnability. It was Wellington who suggested St Helena as Napoleon Bonaparte's place of imprisonment and exile after his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Until his death in 1821, the former Emperor spent his final years under constant British guard. His exile transformed a speck on the maritime map into the most famous island in the world.

    Trade Review
    'Willms is a wry, entertaining commentator, properly suspicious of hagiography' -- Sara Wheeler The Guardian 20080816

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