author
John Goldworth Alger
1836–1907
Best known for bringing the French Revolution and Napoleonic era vividly to life, this English journalist wrote history with a reporter’s eye for telling detail. His books draw on years spent in Paris and show a lasting fascination with how political upheaval shaped everyday lives.
1 Audiobook
Napoleon's British visitors and captives, 1801-1815
by John Goldworth Alger
About the author
Born in Diss, Norfolk, in 1836, John Goldworth Alger became a journalist while still very young, first working on provincial newspapers before joining The Times. In 1874 he moved to Paris for the paper, and that long stay in France gave him direct access to archives, places, and historical material that would shape much of his later writing.
Alger is remembered chiefly for historical works on the French Revolution and the Napoleonic period, including Englishmen in the French Revolution, Glimpses of the French Revolution, Paris in 1789–94, and Napoleon's British Visitors and Captives. His writing combines careful research with the clear, readable style of an experienced newspaper man, which helps make complex events feel immediate.
He retired from The Times in 1902 and died in London in 1907. For audiobook listeners, he is an appealing guide to revolutionary France: informed, observant, and interested not just in major figures, but in the human stories around them.