Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly , Projecting Imperial Power: New Nineteenth Century Emperors and the Public Sphere, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021, 360 p.

Presentation

The nineteenth century is notable for its newly proclaimed emperors, from Franz I of Austria and Napoleon I in 1804 to Victoria, empress of India in 1876. These monarchs projected an imperial aura by means of coronations and acclamations, courts, medals, and costumes, portraits and monuments, ceremonial and religion, architecture and town planning. They relied on ancient history for legitimacy while partially espousing modernity. How the empires came to an end and how imperial cities and statues are treated nowadays demonstrates the contested place of the emperors in national cultural memory.

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