Warfare In The Age Of Bonaparte

Some 12 years ago it was estimated that well over 300,000 works existed on this period and since then several thousand more have appeared. Therefore, it might be reasonably argued that there is little room for another volume. Nonetheless, this vast outpouring of literature has usually dealt with major leaders, specific battles or campaigns, and with certain branches of the service. Moreover, at least in English, the literature tends to concentrate primarily on the French or British armies. There appears to be a lack of works combining a description of the major changes and trends in the art of war, especially at the cutting edge of events, with a discussion of the French military establishment and the armies of the major opponents, British as well as continental. And while this book is only a brief survey, I do believe that it may serve as a contribution towards filling this gap in our historical knowledge of military institutions and fighting men.

From 1792-1815 Europe was convulsed by a series of wars, first against revolutionary France and then the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. The period opened with an untrained French citizen army defying an alliance of major powers, and climaxed with France controlling the whole of continental Europe. It was the flexibility and tactical brilliance of Napoleon that burst the straitjacket of formal 18th century land warfare. The author takes as detailed samples the battles of Turcoing, Castiglione, Marengo, Eylau, Salamanca and Waterloo together with the two sea battles of Algeciras. The tactics and strategy of land and sea warfare are explored and discussed in the diversely illustrated book. REVIEWS "Glover gives an exceptional overview of the Napoleonic period starting in the Revolutionary War period...and going through Waterloo..."Paper Wars Magazine, 8/8/2007

The final volume of a major work on warfare in the Napoleonic age The author of this substantial multi-volume history, Theodore A Dodge, was not only an historian of stature and note but also a soldier. He wrote several well regarded histories of the campaigns and battles of the Civil War and other works of military history. Perhaps his most outstanding achievement was a series of books, published under the umbrella title 'the Art of War, ' focusing on different historical periods as typified by their most notable military commanders-including the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar in the ancient world and the wars of the 17th and 18th century as fought by great captains including Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick and Marlborough. This volume is part of his in depth study of the Napoleonic period, which in its entirety was comprised of four huge volumes that benefited from the inclusion of almost 800 small scale uniform drawings, portraits of notable personalities and numerous theatre, campaign and battlefield maps. This retitled Leonaur edition has been revised to form volumes of approximately equal size reformatted to enable us to enlarge all the illustrations and maps for the benefit of the reader. This series is an excellent history of the campaigns and battles of the Napoleonic Age but it goes far beyond the historical record. Dodge critically examines the strategies and tactics of all the military commanders in such a clear and authoritative manner that the student of military history can clearly understand the errors of those about to suffer defeat and the expertise-or in the case of Napoleon Bonaparte, the military genius-of the victors. This is an invaluable guide to warfare in the age of Napoleon and is highly recommended. This final volume of Dodge's brilliant account of the 'art of war' in the Napoleonic Age concludes with the period to the end of the First Empire when the fortunes of the imperial allies turned in their favour and Napoleon and his forces, weakened by reverses, were unable to contain them. Napoleon's brilliance in the campaigns of 1814 showed that he was still an incomparable grand commander on the field of battle, especially in engagements when the odds were against him. The war had turned to one of attrition so the Empire fell, the emperor abdicated, the Bourbon monarchy was restored and Europe breathed a collective sigh of relief. But it was not quite the end-Napoleon's last great gamble for a return to power, 'The Hundred Days' and the Campaign of 1815 culminating in the great battle of Waterloo on June 18th 1815, brought the most significant commanders of both sides to a field of conflict for the first and last time. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

From 1792-1815 Europe was convulsed by a series of wars, first against revolutionary France and then the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. The period opened with an untrained French citizen army defying an alliance of major powers, and climaxed with France controlling the whole of continental Europe. It was the flexibility and tactical brilliance of Napoleon that burst the straitjacket of formal 18th century land warfare. The author takes as detailed samples the battles of Turcoing, Castiglione, Marengo, Eylau, Salamanca and Waterloo together with the two sea battles of Algeciras. The tactics and strategy of land and sea warfare are explored and discussed in the diversely illustrated book.

The first volume of a major work on warfare in the Napoleonic age The author of this substantial multi-volume history, Theodore A Dodge, was not only an historian of stature and note but also a soldier. He wrote several well regarded histories of the campaigns and battles of the Civil War and other works of military history. Perhaps his most outstanding achievement was a series of books, published under the umbrella title 'the Art of War, ' focusing on different historical periods as typified by their most notable military commanders-including the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar in the ancient world and the wars of the 17th and 18th century as fought by great captains including Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick and Marlborough. This volume is part of his in depth study of the Napoleonic period, which in its entirety was comprised of four huge volumes that benefited from the inclusion of almost 800 small scale uniform drawings, portraits of notable personalities and numerous theatre, campaign and battlefield maps. This retitled Leonaur edition has been revised to form volumes of approximately equal size reformatted to enable us to enlarge all the illustrations and maps for the benefit of the reader. This series is an excellent history of the campaigns and battles of the Napoleonic Age but it goes far beyond the historical record. Dodge critically examines the strategies and tactics of all the military commanders in such a clear and authoritative manner that the student of military history can clearly understand the errors of those about to suffer defeat and the expertise-or in the case of Napoleon Bonaparte, the military genius-of the victors. This is an invaluable guide to warfare in the age of Napoleon and is highly recommended. In this first in the series Dodge considers the beginning of the Revolutionary Wars and the structures, tactics and strategies of those who fought them. The Siege of Toulon and the campaigns in Italy are covered in detail including notable engagements at Castiglione, Arcole, Rivoli and others. This volume concludes as the war turns to Massena's campaign in Austria. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

The third volume of a major work on warfare in the Napoleonic age The author of this substantial multi-volume history, Theodore A Dodge, was not only an historian of stature and note but also a soldier. He wrote several well regarded histories of the campaigns and battles of the Civil War and other works of military history. Perhaps his most outstanding achievement was a series of books, published under the umbrella title 'the Art of War, ' focusing on different historical periods as typified by their most notable military commanders-including the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar in the ancient world and the wars of the 17th and 18th century as fought by great captains including Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick and Marlborough. This volume is part of his in depth study of the Napoleonic period, which in its entirety was comprised of four huge volumes that benefited from the inclusion of almost 800 small scale uniform drawings, portraits of notable personalities and numerous theatre, campaign and battlefield maps. This retitled Leonaur edition has been revised to form volumes of approximately equal size reformatted to enable us to enlarge all the illustrations and maps for the benefit of the reader. This series is an excellent history of the campaigns and battles of the Napoleonic Age but it goes far beyond the historical record. Dodge critically examines the strategies and tactics of all the military commanders in such a clear and authoritative manner that the student of military history can clearly understand the errors of those about to suffer defeat and the expertise-or in the case of Napoleon Bonaparte, the military genius-of the victors. This is an invaluable guide to warfare in the age of Napoleon and is highly recommended. This third volume explains the 'Napoleonic Method' of waging war which swept the French to victory against adversaries whose methodology of war was outmoded. This volume covers the pivotal battles where Napoleon displayed his military genius to best effect at Austerlitz, Jena, Auerstadt, Pultusk, Eylau, Heilsburg and Friedland, then turns to events in the Iberian peninsula where the British army campaigned under the command of a general of a higher calibre-Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.