| 138SquadronRAF | 08 Jun 2015 2:33 p.m. PST |
A debate between Andrew Roberts and Adam Zamoyski hosted by Jeremy Paxman YouTube link One and half hours of great listening. Enjoy |
| Ragbones | 08 Jun 2015 6:52 p.m. PST |
Cool. Thanks for posting that. |
| Navy Fower Wun Seven | 08 Jun 2015 11:39 p.m. PST |
Looks like that's tonight's painting listening sorted! |
 Artilleryman  | 09 Jun 2015 3:12 a.m. PST |
Very interesting and entertaining. Shame that when someone asked 'Who was Napoleon's best marshal?' the two experts agreed that it was Davout and therefore there was absolutely no discussion about him. |
| MaggieC70 | 09 Jun 2015 10:31 a.m. PST |
First define what you mean by "best," Roberts and Zamoyski, and then say why Davout fit that description. Otherwise it means jack. Sigh…I expected better. |
| Gazzola | 10 Jun 2015 5:55 a.m. PST |
It is a fascinating debate in which Andrew Roberts comes out as Andrew the Great in terms of debating and Napoleonic knolwedge. He absolutely wiped the floor with Zamoyski and Paxman, who was supposed to be the moderator. There were some good questions but sadly, not too many military and no discussion on who or why Davout was considered Napoleon's best marshal, which was a shame. That was probably because Zamoyski's military knowledge and understanding of soldiers came over as very weak and he seemed more interested in attacking Napoleon personally. He basically began his viewpoint by mentioning Napoleon with tarts and his attempt at losing his virginity. He also disclosed that he too is writing a book on Napoleon, to which Andrew said he was looking forward to reviewing. And they both showed how authors (if not everyone else) with differing and opposing viewpoints should behave. The end result is a bit mixed. The overall vote was 56% in favour of Napoleon being considered Great, against 43% saying no. But in typical voting jargon, there was a minus 6% swing to the no vote from the don't knows from the pre-vote count. LOL |
| 138SquadronRAF | 10 Jun 2015 7:00 a.m. PST |
The original vote was 49% in favour of Napoleon, 24% against and 27% undecided. So whilst there was a swing of 6% to Napoleon, Zamoyski increased his porportion by 179% while Roberts gained 12.2% I too would have liked more on why they thought Davout the best marshal, even if he was. The one question I would have put to Roberts, "Why if Napoleon is the exemplar of Enlightenment virtue did he reintroduce chattel slavery that had been abolished under the Republic?" |
 ochoin | 10 Jun 2015 1:40 p.m. PST |
Voting on such is just a gimmick. I would like to see the show, though. I gather audience participation in terms of posing questions to the Personalities was not included? |
| Gazzola | 11 Jun 2015 6:39 a.m. PST |
ochoin Members of the audience did ask questions. It is worth viewing, whichever viewpoint you hold. And it is funny in parts. But both historians behaved like gentlemen, even when taking the micky out of each others books. |
| Gazzola | 11 Jun 2015 6:42 a.m. PST |
138SquadronRAF I see the vote as at the start, less than half thought he should be considered as Great, and after the debate, this increased to almost two thirds agreeing he should be considered Great. That was a very interesting result and a very enjoyable debate, if not as detailed or as military as I'd have liked it to have been. |
| Supercilius Maximus | 13 Jun 2015 11:07 a.m. PST |
One comment I'm surprised Napoleon's fans don't use more often is that of the Iron Duke. When asked his opinion on the greatest ever military commander, he replied: "In this age, in past ages, in any age, Napoleon!" Few things in life trump the praise of your foes. |
paints brigs for the British fleet.