Waterloo and its afterlife in the nineteenth-century periodical and newspaper press

Abstract

This special issue commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon’s final defeat was of course a watershed event in the history of Europe, and the political and cultural impact of the battle would remain fresh for decades to come. Wellington, for instance, lived well into the Victorian period, and his massive state funeral in 1852—the same year that saw the nephew of his adversary at Waterloo crowned emperor of France—was a major cultural and historical event in its own right. These and other events shaped by the historical legacy of Waterloo inspired intense coverage and debate in the periodical press of the time. This special issue presents papers on a variety of perspectives and from across disciplines which re-examine this legacy and shed light on the conventions of periodical and newspaper journalism of the period