Customer Reviews

Dutch-Belgian Troops of the Napoleonic Wars (Men-at-Arms)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The problem is that this book tries to cover a period which was extremely turbulent for the Netherlands: the Napoleonic period had great influence on Dutch history, since the Netherlands saw 1 revolution, 3 changes in government and 1 annexation (and 1 war of Liberation)in just 20 years. This means that the uniforms for the armies of the United Provinces, Batavian Republic, Kingdom Holland, the French Empire, the Netherlands in the War of Liberation and the Kingdom of the Netherlands are a vast subject to discuss, and it simply doesn't fit into one Osprey volume. The book by R. Pawly and P. Courcelle, "Wellingtons' Dutch Allies", covers one period and is a lot better. To do justice to this period would be the addition of a volume on the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom Holland. This book simply is too minimal, and it has too many mistakes, since all clich?'s are summed up (again).

This book has mistakes. It means to describe the uniforms from the Dutch-Belgian troops during the Napoleontic Wars. In the Dutch case that is Quatre-Bras and Waterloo (1815). But the uniforms described in this book are the ones depicted in Teupkens 1823 book on Dutch uniforms. Therefore the descriptions are about 8 years too late. Between 1815 and 1823 there were over 200 changes in Dutch uniforms and the authors don't take these changes into account. There might be some correct uniforms described in the book, but I researched the engineers uniform and that is wrong.

This book has mistakes. It means to describe the uniforms during the Napoleontic Wars, i.e. in the Dutch-Belgian case Quatre-Bras and Waterloo. But in fact its uniforms are based on the ones described in a 1823 Dutch book by Teupken. Therefore the information is about 8 years too late. Between 1815 and 1823 there were over 200 uniform changes for the Dutch soldiers and officers. The book might be OK for some uniforms but keep this in mind. I have studied the engineers uniform and it WRONG in this book.