Essay on Talleyrand

Dalling and Bulwer, Henry Lytton Bulwer, Baron, 18Project Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

Rating 3.2
Word count
625K words
Chapters
63

Tags

Motivation and Growth Historical ReappraisalPolitical AllegoryDiplomatPolitical CareerPower GamePower GamesAntiheroElite Figures19th-Century France

Summary

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Essai sur Talleyrand by Baron Henry Lytton Bulwer Dalling and Bulwer

Author: Dalling and Bulwer, Henry Lytton Bulwer, Baron, 1801-1872,Language: French, Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco, Release Date: Oct 25, 2014

Editor's review

Essai sur Talleyrand is a French-language essay by the British diplomat Henry Lytton Bulwer, focusing on Talleyrand, one of the most controversial political figures in modern French history. The author examines Talleyrand's role amid the shifting French political scene from a diplomat's perspective, in a style marked by commentary and judgment; it is a work of historical character criticism rather than a full biography. Project Gutenberg publishes it as a public-domain e-book, making it freely accessible. Its value lies in offering a 19th-century British observer's view of a French political figure, which can be read alongside works from the French perspective to form a more multifaceted understanding. Since the original is in French and the book dates from an early period, its language is somewhat distant from contemporary French, and reading requires some grounding in French and historical background. It is better suited as supplementary material for specialized research than as an introductory text.

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Reading tips

  1. Before reading, familiarize yourself with the basic timeline from the French Revolution to the Napoleonic era to locate the people and events in the text.
  2. Take notes on the author's assessments of Talleyrand as you read, then compare them with other historical sources to discern the author's stance.
  3. French learners should read closely in sections; for long sentences, first identify the main clause, then work through the modifiers.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
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FAQ

Is this book a biography of Talleyrand? It is not a strict biography but an essay centered on commentary, focusing on the author's analysis and judgment of Talleyrand as a person. For a complete life story, dedicated biographies are needed.
Can I read this book without any French? The original is in French and dates from an early period, so its style is distant from contemporary French; readers without French will find it quite difficult. It is advisable to first look for related Chinese or English research materials as a substitute or supplement.
Who was the author Bulwer? Sources indicate that Henry Lytton Bulwer was a British diplomat holding the title of baron. He comments on French political figures as an outside observer, and this perspective itself is background worth noting when reading the book.

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About the author

Dalling and Bulwer, Henry Lytton Bulwer, Baron, 18 Author · British · 1801–1872

Henry Lytton Bulwer, Baron Dalling and Bulwer (1801–1872), was a British diplomat and writer. He spent a long career in diplomacy, served in the mission to the United States, and was appointed ambassador there. His writings focus mainly on historical and political figures. His representative works include Essai sur Talleyrand and Historical Characters: Mackintosh, Talleyrand, Canning, Cobbett, Peel. The former, written in French, discusses the French statesman Talleyrand; the latter presents sketch-like biographical portraits of several figures in British politics and intellectual life. Because public information is limited, details of his life are difficult to describe in full, but his surviving works show that he combined diplomatic experience with historical observation, and that his style leans toward commentary and the analysis of character. These writings offer some reference value for the study of nineteenth-century British political history and French history.