PublishedEbury Press Australia, August 2018 |
ISBN9780143787280 |
FormatSoftcover, 320 pages |
Dimensions23.4cm × 15.3cm |
The incredible story of Bonaparte's secret plan to invade Australia
'A fascinating insight into French ambition and amity in Australia, bursting with joie de vivre' - David Hunt, bestselling author of Girt
In the northern winter of 1814, a French armada set sail for New South Wales. The armada's mission was the invasion of Sydney, and its inspiration and its fate were interwoven with one of history's greatest love stories - that of Napoleon and Josephine.
The Empress Josephine was fascinated by all things Australian. In the gardens of her grand estate, Malmaison, she kept kangaroos, emus, black swans and other Australian animals, along with hundreds of native plants brought back by French explorers in peacetime. And even when war raged between France and Britain, ships known to be carrying Australian flora and fauna for 'Josephine's Ark' were given safe passage.
Napoleon, too, had an abiding interest in Australia, but for quite different reasons. What Britain and its Australian colonies did not know was that French explorers visiting these shores, purporting to be naturalists on scientific expeditions, were in fact spies, gathering vital information on the colony's defences. It was ripe for the picking.
The conquest of Australia was on Bonaparte's agenda for world domination, and detailed plans had been made for the invasion, and for how French Australia would be governed. How it all came together and how it fell apart is a remarkable tale - history with an element of the 'What if?' No less remarkable is how the tempestuous relationship between Napoleon and his empress affected the fate of the Great Southern Land.
Bill is one of the founders of Boffins and has been involved in selecting the books we stock since our beginning in 1989. His favourite reading is history, with psychology, current affairs, and business books coming close behind. His hobbies are reading, food, reading, drinking, reading, and sleeping.
We’ve known of French plans to settle Australia after Napoleon, but this new book reveals that the Bonaparte himself was plotting to do so. The inspiration is bound up with one of history's greatest love stories - that of Napoleon and Josephine. The Empress Josephine was fascinated by all things Australian. In the gardens of her grand estate, Malmaison, she kept kangaroos, emus, black swans and other Australian animals, along with hundreds of native plants brought back by French explorers in peacetime. Napoleon, too, had an abiding interest in Australia, but for quite different reasons. What Britain and its Australian colonies did not know was that French explorers visiting these shores, purporting to be naturalists on scientific expeditions, were in fact spies, gathering vital information on the colony's defences. It was ripe for the picking. François Péron ,the zoologist in the expedition led by the French explorer in todays’ question, wrote a report for Napoleon on ways to invade and capture the British colony at Sydney Cove.
