When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Laurence Sterne (1.1)
- Voltaire (2.1)
- Madame de Stael (4.2)
- Rousseau, "Of the Social Contract" (1.1)
- Caesar, The Gallic Wars (1.1)
- Mozart, "The Spring" (1.1)
- Rousseau, Julie ou la Nouvelle Heloise (1.1)
- Karl von Echartshausen, A Key to the Mysteries of Nature (about magic, alchemy, etc. – a very popular work that also found an audience in Freemasons) (1.1)
- Thiers, The History of the Consulate and the Empire (1.2)
- Napoleon's journals from St. Helena (1.2)
- Virgil, The Aeneid (2.1)
- Moliere, Les Fourberies de Scapin (2.1)
- Thomas a Kempis, "Of the Imitation of Christ" (2.2)
- Molière, Georges Dandin (2.2)
- Karamzin, Poor Liza (2.5)
- Racine, Phèdre (2.5)
- Jean de La Fontaine, Joconde (3.2)
- Madame de Genlis, Les Chevaliers du Cygne (3.2)
- Plutarch, "Life of Poplicola" (Epilogue.1)
Biblical References
- John 1:11 (1.1)
- John 1:1 (2.2)
- Parable of the fatted calf, Luke 15:11-32 (2.2)
- I Kings 6-7 (2.3)
- John 1:4-5 (2.3)
- Song of Songs (2.3)
- Luke 9:59 (2.3)
- Genesis 3:19 (2.4)
- Luke 7:47 (2.5)
- Proverbs 21:1 (3.1)
- Moses, Gideon, David (3.1)
- Revelation 13:11-18 (3.1)
- Matthew 5:32 (3.3)
- Luke 16:18 (3.3)
- Mark 11:9 (4.1)
- Psalm 115 (Epilogue.1)
- Matthew 25:29 (Epilogue.1)
Historical References
- Napoleon (1.1)
- Battle of Austerlitz (1.1)
- The French Revolution (1.1)
- The 18th Brumaire (when Napoleon overthrew the existing French government and installed himself as first consul) (1.1)
- Napoleon's campaigns in Egypt and Turkey (1.1)
- Freemasons (1.1)
- Napoleon's occupation of Vienna in 1805 (1.2)
- Demosthenes (1.2)
- The English Club (2.1)
- General Bagration's successful campaign in Italy in 1799-1800 (2.1)
- The execution of King Louis XVI (2.1)
- Robespierre's Reign of Terror (2.1)
- Napoleon's 1806 victories in Prussia and occupation of Berlin (2.1)
- Marquise de Souza's pre-revolutionary Paris salon (2.2)
- Religious wanderers in Russian Orthodoxy (2.2)
- Napoleon and Alexander's treaty at Tilsit in 1807 (2.2)
- Speransky, Head of the Ministry of the Interior (2.3)
- The Napoleonic Code, the set of codified laws put in place by his government (2.3)
- Russian annexation of Finland in 1808 (2.3)
- Napoleon crossing the Pyrenees into Spain in 1808 (2.3)
- Napoleon's annulment of his marriage to Josephine and remarriage to Maria-Louisa of Austria (2.5)
- Napoleon's arrest of Pope Pius VII in 1809 (2.5)
- The Continental System, Napoleon's blockade of trade between Europe and England (3.1)
- Battle of Thermopylae (3.1)
- Battle of Borodino in 1812 (3.2)
- Rastopchin, Governor of Moscow (3.3)
- False accusation and murder of Vereshchagin (3.3)
- French retreat from Moscow (4.1)
- General Kutuzov falling out of favor (4.4)
- Tsar Alexander falling into mysticism and conservatism and leaving governing to subordinates (Epilogue.1)
- Congress of Vienna in 1814-15 (Epilogue.2)
- Napoleon III (Epilogue.2)