Police et territoires dans le monde napoléonien

The Napoleonic police force is both familiar and shrouded in mystery, fueling the collective imagination. But what do we know about its actual functioning across the vast expanse of a European and colonial empire?
This collective volume offers a fresh perspective by shifting the analysis to an imperial and global scale. For the first time in a comprehensive study, it integrates colonial territories, at the intersection of the history of policing, the First Empire, and colonialism.
Far from the image of a system uniformly centralized from Paris, the contributions highlight the diversity of local situations and the many forms of adaptation between imperial power and societies. Movements, transfers, and collaborations among local actors reveal a policing system in constant interaction.
Through a play of scales, the book captures the full complexity of Napoleonic policing and restores their rightful place to often-overlooked local actors at the heart of the making of the imperial order.