The Fall of Toulon: The Royal Navy and the Royalist Last Stand Against the French Revolution

In the summer of 1793 French Royalists surrendered the great naval base at Toulon to the British, intending this to be the springboard for a full-scale counter-revolution. A multi-national taskforce led by the British, and including Spanish, Austrian and Italian forces, landed in the city.

But the Royalists’ hopes were dashed: the Revolutionaries reacted with great speed and violence. Instead of striking into France, the Royalists and their foreign allies were besieged in Toulon. Among the Republican forces was a young artillery officer who soon made a name for himself: Napoleon Bonaparte. The stage was set for tragedy. Bernard Ireland’s popular and accessible account of the fall of Toulon brings to life a savage episode in European history.