Napoleon in Paris

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 August 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Napoleon Bonaparte dreamed Paris would be the 'capital city of the universe' and much of what we see - and love - about Paris is thanks to him. The long straight boulevards, the fountains, the galleries and museums- even the bread that comes with European cuisine were brought in by Napoleon. He wanted to make it a city that reflected his imperial ambition. But this city shaped him too - Paris is where he went through his most formative experiences as a young man, where he first tasted power, seduction and revolution.

Dan joins historian and expert guide Stephanie Paul in Paris to explore the story of Napoleon's early life here, how the city shaped him and how he created the Paris we recognise today.

Click here for Stephanie's Napoleonic Paris Tour.

This episode is part of our 'Dan Snow's Guide to Europe' Series.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore. The production manager was Beth Donaldson.

Join Dan and the team for a special LIVE recording of Dan Snow's History Hit on Friday, 12th September 2025!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello,
0:00.5	folks, Dan Snow here.
0:01.6	I am throwing a party to celebrate 10 years of Dan Snow's history hit.
0:06.1	I'd love for you to be there.
0:07.5	Join me for a very special live recording of the podcast in London,
0:10.4	in England on the 12th of September to celebrate the 10 years.
0:14.1	You can find out more about it and get tickets with the link in the show notes.
0:17.6	Look forward to seeing you there.
0:24.7	Okay. show notes. Look forward to seeing you there. Hi folks, welcome to Down Snow's History. If you're a follower of this podcast,
0:28.6	then you'll know that this August, this podcast is taking you on a whirlwind trip around
0:34.2	Europe's greatest historical sites. What says some are more than travel
0:39.3	escapism and history? Nothing, that's what. We started in Notre Dame in Paris a few
0:45.2	weeks ago. We whizzed over to Edinburgh to have a look around its magnificent
0:47.7	medieval castle. Now we're back to Paris. Because whilst I love a medieval cathedral,
0:54.0	there's no way I'm going to Paris without indulging
0:56.7	my passion for the Napoleonic era.
1:04.9	And Paris is a metropolis with Napoleon's fingerprints all overhit.
1:11.1	He was absolutely determined to make Paris the capital city of the universe, as he called it.
1:16.5	After took power in 1799, he began to transform the city into a great symbol of his self, really,
1:24.1	certainly his imperial ambitions, always with an eye to teasing out the parallels
1:27.7	theme, Paris and ancient Rome, which he was, of course, obsessed with.
1:32.8	Did Napoleon think about ancient Rome every hour of every day?
	...

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