My first book review :)
The book deals with the letters home & a journal kept in the field by Maj. Edwin Griffith, 15th (Kings) Hussar, while on campaign in the Peninsula during Moore's Corunna & Wellingtons Vittoria to Toulouse campaign. It also deals with the deployment of the 15th in Home service & the involvement in the Battle of Waterloo. Some letters of his nephew are also included, and a journal after the battle of Waterloo.
The author publishes all letters, filled with a wide array of personal date. Only the letters by Edwin, to his family & friends in England are included, so you only get half a picture. It gives an insight into the dayly live of a young man of the Welsh gentry in service in the cavalry, but only scarcely contains details on the actual military matters.
The journal on the other hand gives clear descriptions on the operation of a light cavalry regiment, its different duties & life in the field. The author intervenes from time to time to give valuable background info & clarifications.
As the book advances, the world of the young cavalry officer comes to life, leading to the books apotheose at the battle of waterloo. (Prior to this battle, a nineteenth century view of my home region (Flanders) is given, wich made some nice reading or me).
Not exactly a must buy, but worth the read if you can get a copy from the library.
posted by Badger
1812 - Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow - Adam Zamoyski
If you haven't already read this book already DO !!, I hold in high regard. I could hardly put it down until I finished it. It reads like a piece of Literacy work but don't let that fool you, the book is meticulously researched.
The book offers an objective account of the causes of the 1812 war and the failures of it.
Zamoyski truly brings his account of this campaign to life, using for his sources many first-hand accounts. You really get a feel what is was like for the soldiers of the Grandee Armee. Details of the retreat which is covered extensively,are especially harrowing. Theirs not much detail on the military tactics of the battle's but it's not that kind of book. It concentrates on the human aspect. A truly engaging read.
The Anatomy of Glory - Napoleon and his Guard by Henry Lachouque
This book tells the story of the Emperor's Imperial Guard in a grand narrative history.
It is immensely detailed and comes with 96 illustrations many which i have never seen before,These are worth the price alone. The book goes through the Guard's Rise to glory and its fall and death. It tells of its pomp and grandeur,it's organisation,the battles and parades and The experiences of the men who fought under its banner, from the Emperor on down. Plus its full of anecdotal stories which i love.
If you have any interest in the Imperial Guard then this book is a must buy, you won't regret it.
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' They grumbled...... and kept on following him'.
Sergeant Bourgogne - with Napoleon's Imperial Guard in the Russian campaign and on the retreat from Moscow 1812 - 13
I recently bought this excellent honest memoir which concentrates on the fascinating 1812 campaign by the velite Sergeant Bourgogne of the Emperor's Imperial Guard.
It really does read more like Dante's journey through hell then a military memoir. It's available on http://www.napoleonic-literature.com/ but the final few chapters are not yet listed, but if you value your eyes I would buy the book heheheh.
Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna
If you want a change from the usual blood and gut's stuff then this is brilliant for an insight into Napoleonic diplomacy, as engrossing as Zamoyski's 1812 book.
It's fascinating reading about the politicking of the allies in the wake of Napoleon's demise and all the time you know Napoleon is going to return for one last throw of the dice. The allies represented by their respective plenipotentiary's, with diverse personalities such as Talleyrand, Metternich and Castlereagh to name a few and the Emperor Alexander casting a big shadow the more he saw himself as a messianic figure, who delivered Europe from the clutches of Napoleon.
Issues such as the future's of Saxony and Poland leave the allies at odds with each other and war threatens to break out leading one of Emperor Francis chamberlains to remark 'That they would be better of bringing back Napoleon to unite them"
All congregate big and small to decide or await their fate after Napoleon's fall by those who hold hold the fate of Europe in there hands, and all in the midst of festival's, grand ball's, amorous affairs, espionage and the spectre of War.
posted by Legless Lannes
While not a Napoleonic book, I thought many here would enjoy a review of "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield.
A great mix of the historical after action report style journals of Thermopylae and rather fictional '300,' Gates of Fire is a refreshing book that grips the nerves of the reader in ways that most books simply cannot.
Written from the viewpoint of a Free Helot named Xeones, wounded at said battle and saved by the Archer God Apollo to tell the story before his wounds finally force his submission to the Styx, where his fallen brothers wait, the book is a journey through the life of a boy who's free city is sacked by traitorous allies in the night and watches as his mother and father are killed and his cousin and best friend is raped at the hands of farmer-soldiers. In his anger he runs to Sparta and volunteers to be a Helot in hopes of gaining revenge.
Written in a style between Sharpe and a more traditional method, moments of anxious tension are broken by off balanced Spartan humor and, at times, love. Indeed, even the Persians are not monsterized as in '300,' but rather they are shown as they were-conscripts of an oversized empire with the opposite of emotion shown by Sparta-the will to live and return home to their families as opposed to dying in a war waged of aggressiveness and without moral reason, whereas Sparta, her allies by her side, is defending the home she loves with numbers all too few...
It was such a good book in 1998 when written George Clooney was planning on making a movie out of it in 2003 and Bruce Willis was making plans as a possible role in the movie as well. While production on the movie seems to have faltered, it is still by far a fantastic read:
Posted by Horton
A good book to read is Young Bloods by Simon Scarrow, documenting the life of Napoleon and Wellington from youth to their early Military careers, a historical Novel which is a good read, and gives a good picture of the men in their early careers.
There will be a series of books documenting their life, and the next one called Generals has just been released in Hardback.
Another good book is Napoleons Finest, which is very interesting, has really good plates, drawings, documents all the action and all the reports in Davouts corps during the Jena Austerdat action, as well as all the actions preceeding and following the main battle leading to Prussia Surrender.
A good read, and a great looking book as well. It gives a real insight as to the way the army was structured, and the great General Davout was. He faced the whole Prussian Army, and Bernadotte, stood still, even though he was within striking distance, and he had orders to March to the Guns, he still made a very good job of stopping defeating and routing the whole Prussian army on his own.
posted by Anthony
Napoleon in Egypt by Paul Strathern.
Just started reading it,
Already lots of interesting details and a bit about the Mamelukes that you would find interesting Lannes.
Also an insight into Napoleons fixation with the 'Orient'.
Hope it finishes as well as it starts!
posted by Riflegren
