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London Review of Books

Slippery Prince subscriber-only content

Graham Robb

  • Napoleon III and His Regime: An Extravaganza by David Baguley
  • The French Second Empire: An Anatomy of Political Power by Roger Price

On the morning of 5 August 1840, a large pleasure boat chartered by a Frenchman was under steam at London Bridge. The owners of the Edinburgh Castle seem to have been remarkably incurious about the expedition. The day before, guns and ammunition, bundles of printed proclamations, a large amount of cash, sixty uniforms and several horses had been taken on board. The passengers wore civilian clothes but were obviously not embarking on a picnic.

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Graham Robb has written biographies of Balzac, Victor Hugo and Rimbaud. Strangers: Homosexual Love in the 19th Century was published in 2003.