Customer Reviews

Crisis on the Danube: Napoleon's Austrian Campaign of 1809

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Mr Arnold combines good Historical accuracy with a very pleasant writing style. The narrative provides a good balance between strategic/grand tactics events, and small unit combat details.

On the large picture, Mr Arnold tries to analyse the decisions taken by the commanders with the information they had at the moment, not with the hindsight historians usually use to criticise great commanders. This is a refreshing way of seing the command-decision aspect that fascinates so many.

On the detail side, the book provides several minor actions taken by units from both opponent armies. For once, one does not feel that the author based his book exclusively on sources from one side.

There is only a little fault, probably a lapse: the maps are not numbered, although all text references made to them are! A minor problem, that I solved quickly with a pencil.

The book is a pleasure to read and highly recommended. Maybe somewhat less biased that Petre's, and much easier to read. With Scott-Bowden's book (for the organisation details) and Esposito's book (for the maps), you'll have everything you'll ever need to reproduce a full wargame of the campaign.

I read this book many years ago and recently re-purchased it after reading Volume One of Thunder on the Danube. I remember what an excellent book it was. While not as detailed and in depth as TotD, it gets right to the military aspects and I enjoyed reading it. I wish now I had not sold the follow up book on the Aspern-Essling and Wagram. Hopefully, they will reprint that volume also.