Eighty-four French ships conveyed 37,000 troops across the Mediterranean and set up a well-defended base camp. Some 35,000 Ottoman troops arrived on 19 June 1830, but the French possessed better guns and routed them. On 5 July the Dey surrendered on the condition that people’s religion was respected, and the French occupied Algiers. Napoleon had triumphed again – this time from beyond the grave. The
