Of Beards and Men: The Revealing History of Facial Hair Read Online Free Page A

Italy, and Spain fell under Napoleon’s boot, and a deep gloom overshadowed liberal dreams in those countries. The French Revolution, once so full of promise, had become a nightmare. Conservatives raised the standard of resistance, calling on all to rally to monarchy and tradition. Beleaguered republicans clung forlornly to their fading hopes of equality and constitutionalism. Romantics proposed a third way: if men themselves changed, both national restoration and republican freedom would be possible. Like the conservatives, they looked to history; unlike the conservatives, they did not look to the immediate past but to a more distant, medieval past, whence bearded men beckoned as hopeful symbols of a restored future.

Louis Napoleon Breaks the Rules
    In most ways Louis Napoleon was not very much like his famous uncle. At age thirty, the original Napoleon, already a conquering general, took the reins of government in Paris and began his quest to dominate Europe. The nephew, by contrast, spent most of his first forty years either in exile or in prison. The great emperor had made his mark with boundless energy and quickness of mind, whereas his nephew-pretender was both slower of wit and softer around the edges. In spite of these contrasts, both shared a sense of destiny—the idea that history revolved around them—and though the younger Napoleon could not claim any great conquests, he did manage a clever escape from prison that demonstrated at least some creativity and acting skills. In this caper, Louis managed to make good use of his signature beard.
    In 1840, after a second failed attempt to rally units of the French army to overthrow the government, Louis was sentenced by King Louis Philippe to a long term of imprisonment in a castle in northern France. It took a while, but after six years, the prisoner with the famous name finally found his chance. Renovations of the castle buildings brought crews of workmen into the prison grounds and an idea into Napoleon’s mind. What followed was an adventure worthy of Hollywood, complete with disguises, fast talking, and quick thinking. 9
    At 6:30 on a May morning, the plot was put into action. Napoleon’s loyal valet, Charles Thélin, who had been allowed by the castle commandantto make regular visits, diverted the work crew from Napoleon’s rooms by inviting them to have a glass of wine on the floor below. In the meantime, the prisoner prepared his disguise. He donned a workman’s outfit, shaved off his Bonapartist mustache and beard, smudged his face with dirt, and stuck a smoking pipe between his teeth. As a final touch, he pilfered a shelf from the castle library to carry. For good luck, he even thought to select the shelf labeled “N.” At this point, Thélin quietly slipped away from his guests and, taking care to tether Napoleon’s small dog, distracted the guards at the building doorway with tales of an ill and bed-ridden Napoleon, as their charge, the shelf obstructing his face, walked nonchalantly by.
    So far so good, but at this point the escapee’s pipe fell and shattered on the pavement, drawing glances from workmen and guards in the courtyard. Napoleon calmly and slowly picked up the pieces, trying to look every bit the poor laborer who could not afford to abandon his broken pipe. Napoleon’s co-conspirators later surmised that some of the guards must have recognized his stout shape hunched over in the courtyard but let him pass in a tacit show of support. 10
    The political prisoner reached the front gate, still shouldering his board, and ordered it opened. Without much thought the gatekeepers obliged, and the future ruler of France was gone, heading to a secluded rendezvous with followers on his way to freedom in England. Safely out of the French king’s clutches, Louis grew back his wide mustache and pointed chin beard grander than before, and just two years later, when revolution again convulsed France, he grasped a golden opportunity to seize power. The