Book of Napoleon Bonaparte published by Literature and Dong A Publishing House. Photo: D. A. Genius or sinner? Historian Adam Zamoyski tore the veil of anecdotal covering the character’s life, explaining Napoleon based on the context of the European Enlightenment. His book has just been published in Vietnamese with the name Napoleon Bonaparte , translated by translator Nguyen Qui Hien. The 916-page book of 44 chapters, builds on the biography of Napoleon Bonaparte from his birth on the island of Corsica, his way to advancement, to his death on the island of Saint Helena. The author spends a large amount of time researching about the years that formed the person of Napoleon, to explain a person that is still controversial. The author also focuses on writing about the first Italian campaign (1796-1797), which showed how Napoleon was superior to his opponents and colleagues. The Russia campaign is seen by the author as “the key to Napoleon’s decline, and shows how his confusions led to political suicide”. Adam Zamoyski was soon exposed to contrasting, anecdotes about Napoleon: A divine genius, an embodiment of romantic ideals, a vicious demon, or just a dictator. ugly small stature. Historical studies cause Adam Zamoyski to disagree with any of them. In Preface In the book, the author stated the purpose of the research: “This book is not to justify or condemn, but to rearrange the pieces of the human life born under the name of Napoleone Bonaparte, and to consider how Why did he become ‘Napoléon’ and gain all the achievements he had, and why did he lose all this fortune.” With the view that Napoleon was a genius, Adam Zamoyski said that he did not see this character as having anything superhuman, but had many extraordinary qualities. Napoleon was still an ordinary man in many respects, “despite having achieved countless glory, personally led the most disastrous battle in military history (a disaster of his own making), and himself single-handedly destroy the great fortune that I, along with many others, have worked so hard to build.” Historian Adam Zamoyski rates Napoleon as an excellent tactician; but he was not a strategist, so at the end of his life he met a tragic end. With the view that Napoleon is “a bloodthirsty demon of war”, the author rejects when placing the character in a historical context. According to the author, Napoleon’s motives and ambitions were similar to those of his contemporaries such as Tsar Alexander I, Duke of Wellington, Earl Blucher… Before the rise of Napoleon, a hegemonic dispute broke out. Britain occupied Canada, a large part of India; Austria won many provinces in Italy; Poland and Prussia increased in size… But the leaders were not criticized for being bloodthirsty for war. The book is considered a true biography of Napoleon. Photo: D. A. Put the character in historical context Writing a biography, the author puts Napoleon in historical context, ignoring accepted opinions and prejudices. To do this, the author has focused on many sources that he considers reliable. He consults a large number of documents in government archives, national libraries of many countries, to books, newspapers in circulation, and the research of previous historians. The author also studies the memoirs of related people such as Bourrienne, Fouché, Barras… with caution. He said that these characters originally wrote memoirs mainly to justify themselves or to build their own image. The book has received positive feedback from researchers and the press. The Times “This is perhaps one of the most honest biographies of Napoleon,” he wrote. In addition to footer and Bibliography presented according to the original book, the Vietnamese version is supplemented with the Vietnamese Index system. This helps readers to look up more historical sources that the author has consulted when writing the book, creating a convenient and scientific experience. Vietnamese edition of Napoleon Bonaparte There are also illustrations from the book Histoire de l’Empereur Napoleon , by Laurent de l’Ardèche, by painter Horace Vernet. The appendix of the book is 36 images of Napoleon’s life through paintings by contemporary artists. These are portraits of Napoleon, portraits of his relatives, related figures, places, events (such as the Tuileries Palace, the Arc de Triomphe Carrousel, the coronation of Napoleon)… Author Adam Zamoyski (1949) is a British historical researcher. He can speak five languages ​​English, Polish, French, Italian, Russian. He is currently teaching in the UK, USA and Europe. Adam Zamoyski wrote many books on Polish and European history. He is the author of three works on Napoleon: Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon: A Life) ), Moscow 1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow (1812 – Napoleon’s deadly campaign in Moscow), Rites of Peace, The Fall of Napoleon & the Congress of Vienna (Peace Rite – The Fall of Napoleon and the Conference of Vienna).

A fresh batch of baguettes From the countryside to the city, the long bread made by hand is a familiar image in the daily life of the French people. The baguette has also been a creative inspiration for many artists and has gone into many works of art. From a foreign perspective, when it comes to France, in terms of cuisine, the baguette is probably one of the most intimate and simple symbols, next to countless types of wine, champagne or cheese. So when did baguettes in France come from? According to historian Steven Kaplan, up to now, in France, there are usually three anecdotes about the origin of baguette bread. It is said by many that the long bread was invented by the bakers of Emperor Napoleon in the early 19th century. Lighter and less bulky than the earlier round loaf, the long loaves were easily carried by soldiers. people. In another anecdote, baguettes originated in Austria and were brought to France by a Viennese baker named August Zang in 1839, and were originally sold in Paris as ovals. And finally, the baguette was invented on the Paris subway site in the 1900s, a time when workers from all over France flocked here, and there were often fights between Brittany and regional workers. Auvergne. To prevent workers from stabbing each other with knives, contractors are said to have asked bakers to make loaves of bread that are easy to break by hand rather than using a knife. However, those are just oral anecdotes. Historian Steven Kaplan asserts that the traditional baguette originated in the 20th century, stemming from a change in the dietary needs of urban people. The affluent class living in urban areas wanted to eat fresh bread many times a day, while the big, round breads weighing 1.2-2kg at that time were too big, they had to eat a few meals to finish. Moreover, people also prefer to eat the crust rather than the inside. For centuries before that, bread was made with sourdough, obtained by the natural fermentation of bacteria found in wheat. For the workers, the process of making cakes is very hard work. Steven Kaplan recounted, the baker at that time was likened to a “white miner”, working all night. Many consider it inhumane to let bakers work in such conditions, leading to a movement to find ways to reduce their hardship. By 1919, France had a law banning bakers from working at night. Therefore, the craftsmen have come up with a simpler way to make bread and shape the long, thin baguette to bake the cake faster. And so the baguette was born. According to the National Federation of French Bakery and Pastry Shops, 32,000 artisan bakeries with 180,000 employees earn about 11 billion EUR/year in revenue. However, the French Ministry of Culture said that the number of bakeries has dropped sharply in the past five decades due to competition from supermarkets with industrial, frozen bread. Many people hope that the French Ministry of Culture’s selection of baguettes to submit to UNESCO for nominations for the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will contribute to preserving France’s artisanal bread production from the competition of the industrial production methods.

In the dark, rescuers found a young Chinese man clinging to a wooden door, trembling but alive. It was Fang Lang, one of six Chinese who survived the tragedy and the rescue that later inspired a famous scene in the 1997 Hollywood blockbuster “Titanic”. Titanic was the largest ocean-going ship in the world in the 1910s. It was described as “invincible fish” before sinking in the Atlantic in 1912. Photo: Easyvoyage However, miraculous survival is not the end of their trials. Within 24 hours of arriving at the immigration screening station on Ellis Island, New York, they were deported from the United States for a controversial law banning mainlanders from immigrating in the country. According to the BBC, 6 men disappeared from history to the present day. A documentary film has just been released on the mainland titled “The Six” has clarified their identity and life, 109 years after their fateful trip. The film unfolds the story outside of the legendary Titanic, a story shaped by racism and anti-immigration policies that are gaining special attention following the recent wave of persecution of Asians in the United States. Who are the 6 Chinese survivors? The men were identified as Lee Bing, Fang Lang, Chang Chip, Ah Lam, Chung Foo and Ling Hee. They are believed to be sailors coming to the Caribbean to work. Arthur Jones, British filmmaker and director of The Six, told the BBC that they were known as a group, not as an individual. A ticket listing the names of eight Chinese guests aboard the Titanic. 6 of them survived the shipwreck tragedy. Photo: LP Films The names of the Chinese survivors were on the list of passengers on the Titanic. Articles covering the sinking of the Titanic also briefly mentioned them. However, according to historians and researchers, unlike other survivors who had been praised by the media, this group of Chinese people was vilified for their anti-Chinese views in the West in the early 20th century. For example, in a report published a few days after the sinking, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle called the Chinese survivors “creatures” that rushed into the lifeboats “at the first sign of danger. and hide under the seats. However, research by the documentary production team shows that this claim is false. They built a replica of the Titanic’s lifeboat and found that it was impossible for the Chinese men to hide underneath without being spotted. “I think, we see the same thing today. We are seeing immigrants turned into scapegoats,” commented director Jones. Lifeboat took survivors away from the sinking area of ​​the Titanic in April 2012. Photo: Easyvoyage Other media have even accused the Chinese of dressing up as women in order to be given priority on boarding the lifeboats. But Tim Maltin, the Titanic historian, says there is no evidence that the survivors of the Chinese had either stowed away or disguised themselves as women. Mr. Maltin believes, these are stories made up by the press and public opinion after the event. Rumors may stem from the stigma attached to many male survivors, as the vast majority of the general public believes that women and children should be given priority in the rescue. According to the historian Maltin, Chinese men tried to help other survivors. Fang Lang, who tied himself to a floating door in the sea, later steered the lifeboat that helped bring many people to safety. What happened to them after the crash? Rejected by the US, six Chinese men were sent to Cuba. They quickly made their way to England, where there was a shortage of sailors as many British sailors enlisted in World War I. (From left to right) Three of the Chinese guests who survived the tragedy with the Titanic were Ah Lam, Fang Lang and Ling Hee. Photo: LP Films Chang Chip became more and more ill after the fateful night and eventually died of pneumonia in 1914. He was buried in an unmarked grave in a London cemetery. The remainder worked together in Britain until 1920, when the country experienced a post-war recession and anti-immigrant sentiment surged. Some are married to British women and have children. However, anti-immigrant policies force them to leave the country without notice, leaving their relatives behind. “It’s not their fault. All these families have been divided because of politics, which they really don’t have any control over,” said director Jones. Lee Bing immigrated to Canada, while Fang Lang, after taking a train between Britain and Hong Kong for many years, became a citizen of the United States, the country that once rejected him. Similarity between history and today Tom Fong, son of Fang Lang was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA almost half a century after the sinking of the Titanic. His family surname has many different spellings in English. For decades, Fong was unaware of his father’s experiences aboard the legendary ship, dubbed “unsinkable”. “My father never mentioned it. At least not to me or my mother,” said Fong. Tom Fong was not told by his father – Fang Lang about what he experienced. Photo: LP Films Mr. Fang died in 1985, at the age of 90. Only 20 years later, his son was revealed by a family member that the father had survived the terrible shipwreck. Fong thinks his father may have kept it a secret because of his hurt and discrimination. “There was a lot of information saying that they were sneaking under the boat and disguised as women … stories like that were widely spread at that time,” Fong stressed. As The Six’s team traces the descendants of survivors, many of them still hesitate to share stories of stigma that family members experienced a century ago. Over the past 100 years, the hostility suffered by the six Chinese survivors has been eerily repeated in the midst of anti-Asian racism arose in today’s pandemic scene. In the US alone, there have been thousands of abuse cases reported in recent months, ranging from spit, verbal harassment to violent assault. Fong decided to share his family’s story in the hope that everyone will learn the truth about the Chinese survivors of the Titanic disaster and reflect on current events. “Because if you don’t know history, it will repeat itself,” he asserted.

Qin Shihuang was the first emperor of China with a history of five thousand years, unifying six vassal countries, unifying currencies, unifying documents, contributing to building the world famous Great Wall of China, and Of course, the large and large population of Qin Thuy Hoang tombs. The tomb of China’s first emperor is at the northern foot of Mount Lishan, 5 kilometers east of Lintong district, Shaanxi province, northern China. Built between 246 BC and 208 BC, spanning 39 years, this is one of the largest, most exotic and richest emperor tombs in the world – home to a multitude of treasures and mysteries, among which there are reasons for the existence of 8,000 human statues of terracotta army. Located in Shaanxi Province, China, Qin was discovered by accident in 1974. Since then, many magical legends have been aroused around this colossal colony of mausoleums. According to historical records, many different palaces were built in the Qin Mausoleum, displaying many strange treasures. A large number of burial pits and tombs of different shapes and meanings are also distributed around the Qin Mausoleum. With undeveloped technology, we can only see “the tip of the iceberg” in the Qin Shihuang mausoleum complex: There are 8000 warriors and terracotta war horses. However, that much knowledge is interesting and surprising enough for historians and archeologists. Over the past two thousand years, many grave thieves have tried to infiltrate the Qin mausoleum, but none of them succeeded. The reason is that the tomb of Tan Thuy Hoang was designed with many sophisticated underground traps during the construction process. These are the traps in the Qin Shihuang mausoleum that researchers discovered so far: First trap: Mercury During the survey, archaeologists also discovered that the concentration of mercury in the ground around the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum was actually very high. In addition to the presence of an antiseptic, these mercury are also highly toxic. The second trap: The crossbow trap Many Chinese historians have written about this sophisticated and dangerous trap in the Qin Shihuang Tomb. In the book “History” of the historian Sima Qian there is a specific record of this type of trap. He wrote: “The statue of the crossbow, possessing a fake armament of musk chi”. That means, for any intruder that destroys Qin King’s sleep, will suffer the most frightening consequences when the crossbows are stretched, ready to destroy the stranger with hundreds of sharp arrows. Image of a Qin crossbow. The famous Qin crossbow not only shoots farther than the bow and arrow, more damage, but also has a higher hit rate. This weapon is made of mulberries, the arms of the Qin crossbow are usually 60-75 cm long, 4-5 cm wide. Since the entire body of the crossbow is composed of dense leather straps, this not only enhances the structural strength of the bow’s stem, but also has excellent toughness and elasticity. Of course, whether the crossbow can function after two thousand years is not yet known. Third trap: Sand trap The tomb of Qin Shihuang is also equipped with sand traps. Once quicksand is dug by grave thieves, it can turn into a grave of their own. The quicksand traps system has been sophisticatedly “posted on the battlefield” as follows: When entering the Qin Mausoleum, tomb thieves will see “a trap”. Tomb theft will think that is the path leading to the treasure and try hard to dig. However, instead of the entrance to treasure, it was the burial ground of greedy people. Because the amount of sand in the trap will fall, burying strangers. The fourth trap: The fire trap Scenes like this will appear a lot in recent tomb theft novels, biogas and flammable substances appear in the aisle of the tomb, the tomb thief will be burned down the moment it opens. The same thing also appeared in the tomb of Tan Thuy Hoang. This shows that Qin Wang attaches great importance to his fall asleep. Fifth trap: Curse Although it is hard to believe, after the completion of the Qin mausoleum, it is said that if a person daring to touch the tomb of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, harass the Qin King’s sleep, that person will be killed by thousands of terracotta warriors and war horses Frantic revenge mausoleum. Army image of nearly 10,000 human statues in the tomb of Tan Thuy Hoang. Is this the meaning of existence of thousands of terracotta warriors and war horses placed in giant tombs? After 3 large-scale archaeological discoveries, this army of nearly 10,000 soldiers was discovered in the tomb of the Qin King. All have the size and shape of ordinary people, especially, with completely different faces, no one resembles anyone. And historians always wondered, what does the meaning of the ten thousand soldiers in Qin Mausoleum mean? Does the curse that exists in Qin-mausoleum partly tell the meaning of this army? Even so, the curse is not easy to believe, but can scare the grave thieves. This method of using the curse is considered the most frightening and most haunting.

Minh Hy Tong was the 16th Emperor of the Ming Dynasty from 1620 to 1627. His name at birth was Chu Do Hieu. Minh Hy Tong is the eldest son of Minh Quang Tong. King Minh Quang Tong died after exactly 29 days in the throne. His death is directly linked to the “Hong conviction” and is the shortest current emperor in Ming history, often referred to as the “One-month emperor” in Chinese history. (Royal portrait of Minh Hy Tong)

After his father passed away, Chu Do Hieu ascended to the throne at the age of 15. At that time, this new king did not express any grief over his father’s death. His actions toward his late father were regarded by later historians as filial piety. (Create character Minh Hy Tong in movies)

After his father passed away, Chu Do Hieu ascended to the throne at the age of 15. At that time, this new king did not express any grief over his father’s death. His actions toward his late father were regarded by later historians as filial piety. (Create character Minh Hy Tong in movies)

Because of that, all the main dynasties, Hy Tong handed over to the eunuch Wei Trung Hien along with her nanny, Khach Thi, to hold the main court. (Creating Wei Trung Hien in movies)

Wei Zhongxian, whose real name is Wei Xianzhuang, is one of the most famous and most powerful eunuchs in Chinese history. However, according to historical records, Wei Trung Hien was also illiterate, so he had to ask other small Thai bishops to read the chapter for him. (Illustration)

This eunuch is the leader of the “eunuchs gang” under Minh Hy Tong who disrupted the main dynasty, seized all power in his hands, and destroyed all those who were not on his side. tolerance. The Ming dynasty under Hy Tong’s severe decline was in large part due to Wei Trung Hien. (Illustration)

Minh Hy Tong died in 1627 due to serious illness, his youngest brother ascended to the throne. That was Emperor Minh Tu Tong. (Portrait photo of Minh Tu Thong)