Dietro le quinte dell’Impero
Biografie e prosopografie nell’Europa napoleonica
open access | peer reviewed
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edited by
- Valentina Dal Cin - Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia - email
Abstract
This volume offers an innovative historiographical perspective on the Napoleonic era by shifting the focus from its most prominent figures to the lives of lesser-studied actors. Building on the view of the Grand Empire as a collective enterprise, it argues that its political, institutional, socioeconomic, and cultural dynamics can only be fully understood by examining the contributions of mid-level public officials, politicians, intellectuals, military officers, and merchants. Through seven case studies, the book examines the multifaceted careers of individuals active in diverse contexts, including Italians serving in both Italy and France and French officials working in Italy. Their trajectories reveal how they contributed to the consolidation of Napoleonic power and capitalized on the opportunities created by the regime. After its collapse, many of them emerged as agents of continuity in a period of profound instability, shaping European society well into the Restoration. Transcending rigid politico-institutional boundaries, the book offers a nuanced and distinctive account of the interplay between society and the individuals who both shaped and experienced this transformative era.
Keywords Commercial elite • Political Exile • France • Administrative practices • Legion of Honour • Archival administration • Cisalpine Republic • Customs • Correspondences • Napoleonic Society • State entrepreneurship • Political Economy • Republicanism • Recruitment policies of the Republican state • Generational Conflict • Job Applications • Napoleonic Age • Political and Social Elites • July Monachy • Medicine • Biography • Napoleonic Europe • Trivulzio family • Librarians • Italian patriots • Tobacco monopoly • Napoleonic Italy • Social use of the bibliography • Political Culture • Napoleonic Empire • War • Social mobility • Napoleonic Administration
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-941-2 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-941-2 | Published Oct. 27, 2025 | Language it
Copyright © 2025 Valentina Dal Cin. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.