Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age 1792– - 1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics [Hardcover]

Robert B. Bruce (Author), Iain Dickie (Author), Kevin Kiley (Author), Michael F. Pavkovic (Author), Frederick C. Schneid (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312375875 | ISBN-13: 978-0312375874 | Publication Date: April 15, 2008 | Edition: First Edition

Robert B. Bruce is an Associate Professor of History at Sam Houston State University in Texas. He is the award-winning author of numerous books on military history. He is a member of the Napoleonic Historical Society.

Iain Dickie has been a committee member of the Society of Ancients, the editor of Army & Navy Modelworld, Military Hobbies, and Miniature Wargames magazines.

Kevin Kiley is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and is a retired Marine Corps artillery officer. He is the author of Artillery of the Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815 and Once There Were Titans: Napoleon`s Generals and Their Battles, 1800-1815. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and his son.

Michael F. Pavkovic is Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He is the co-author of What is Military History? and has published on a variety of subjects in military history. Frederick C. Schneid is a Professor of History at High Point University in North Carolina. He has written several books on European warfare and is Southern Regional Director of the Society for Military History. In this thematically-organized, thoroughly-illustrated reference text, five expert authors describe the fighting techniques used at the height of Napoleon Bonaparte`s empire. The book explores the tactics and strategy required to win battles and describes how the drastic changes in weapons technology and military systems altered the face of the battlefield permanently. Using specially-commissioned color and black and white artworks to illustrate the battles, equipment and tactics of the era, Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age shows in detail how the battles that would define Europe for years to come were fought and won. In this thematically-organized, thoroughly-illustrated reference text, five expert authors describe the fighting tactics, equipment and techniques used at the height of Napoleon Bonaparte`s empire as well as the developments in weapons technology and changes in military systems. The book shows in detail how the battles that would define Europe for years to come were fought and won. Table of Contents
The Role of Infantry
Mounted Warfare
Command and Control
Artillery and Siege Warfare
Naval Warfare
Select Bibliography
Index

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312375875
• ISBN-13: 978-0312375874
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good entry level read, July 3, 2008

By 

braxen (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age 1792– - 1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics (Hardcover)

I have recently bought this book along with a couple of Osprey on British and French infantry tactics during Napoleonic wars.

Put it very briefly, get this book instead of the Ospreys. It covers not only infantry, cavalry, artillery but also naval warfare. The book gives numerous lively examples and accounts about the different achievements of each arm. One can find numerous battles explained with maps, each detailing the successes of a particular use of cavalry, artillery or infantry.

This little book does extremely well in its own modest and pedagogical way what others more convoluted writings fail to achieve: inspire!

As a conclusion: a well written and engaging entry level book. Happy with it and will read it again with pleasure.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good read, little lacking in detail, March 20, 2009

By 

M. Davis "The Ox" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age 1792– - 1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics (Hardcover)

I sought this book as an introduction to the fighting techniques of the Napoleonic era, and was reasonably satisfied. For serious study, however, it is lacking. I am left with quite a few more questions than answers after reading this book. There are several excellent anecdotes concerning the historic personages of the era, but unfortunately the real "meat" of the subject is sadly missing. The battle descriptions are average and the maps downright confusing (they mix colors from battle to battle). The battles are meant as illustrations of the techniques described in the chapters, but they come off as loosely related and do not adequately convey the intended lesson. Perhaps I was searching for something a bit more scholarly.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Primer for Napoleonic Warfare, November 30, 2009

By 

Michael L. Shakespeare (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age 1792– - 1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics (Hardcover)

In 1813 Allied sovereigns formed a coalition that ultimately delivered victory over Napoleon at 'The Battle of Nations'. Now, one hundred ninety-five years later, five authors: Robert Bruce, Iain Dickie, Kevin Kiley, Michael Pavkovic, and Frederick Scheid, have joined forces to produce this fine volume on the tactics of Napoleonic warfare.

Memory of those days is now confined to dusty books and dingy paintings, but the sheer scale of battle, the drama, and the pivotal importance in the wars guarantee their enduring grip on history buff's imaginations.

The authors bring together their narrative and analytical skills in the traditional genre of military history, concentrating on questions of command, strategy, tactics and the changing technologies of warfare.

Each chapter focuses on a different arm: infantry, cavalry, artillery, command and control -- chapter five covers naval warfare. The text is bolstered by color artwork. Eighteen birds-eye-view battle field maps are included to demonstrate the tactics.

The author's command of Napoleonic period forces enables them to sketch with considerable skill each armies' Grenadiers, Hussars and artillerymen with vivid precision. They know the weapons and their employment.

In describing these times, the authors are obliged by the scale of the subject matter to stick to the bare bones of the story. However, they scatter their text with vignettes and insights that will surprise even those well-versed in the history of these wars.

It is to their credit that they can both offer the reader a detailed account of these ­terrible and complicated battles and step back to give due summaries. Their scholarship seems to me worthy, their prose clear, their judgments fair.

The author's narrate in a conversational style, making all the moves and counter moves understandable. When they narrow the focus, the action comes alive, as in the violent and unforgettable tales of Caulaincourt's Cuirassiers storming the great redoubt at Borodino or with Senarmont's battery that "inflicted some 4000 casualties and gutted the Russian center at the Battle of Friedland."

Concise and readable, "Fighting Techniques" is a birds-eye-view of military operations. For anyone who wishes to understand Napoleonic warfare, this book is essential reading.