An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars: campaign maps; Provides an unrivalled source of visual information on the fighting men of the period [Hardcover]

Digby Smith (Author)

Book Description

Series: Illustrated Encyclopedia | Publication Date: December 27, 2006

This book brings a highly eventful period of European history to life, chrinicling the battles, campaigns and skirmishes of the conflict and the political triumphs and declines of the combatant forces.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Digby Smith was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, in 1935. He spent three years in India prior to the Second World War and another in Pakistan in 1948, following his army family around the globe. He joined the army as an apprentice tradesman in 1951, and in 1961 was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals and spent over 10 years in Germany. From 1970 he was part of the German Federal Armed Force. He resigned from the army in 1979 and until 1995 worked in logistics and customer services in the computer and IT field. In 1995 he began to compile the Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. His books include Armies of the Napoleonic Era, Navies of the Napoleonic Era (David & Charles); Armies of 1812, Armies of the Middle East (PSL); Napoleon's Regiments, 1813 Leipzig, and the Battle of the Nations (Greenhill Books). Many of his earlier works were published under the nom de plume of Otto von Pivka.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Anness (December 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754815714
• ISBN-13: 978-0754815716
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > History > Military > Uniforms

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars by Digby Smith, March 3, 2007

By 

Nathan Woolford "Pictoglyph" (Brisbane, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars: campaign maps; Provides an unrivalled source of visual information on the fighting men of the period (Hardcover)

An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars by Digby Smith is a very good introductory book on the uniforms and armies of the Napoleonic wars. Although this book is jam-packed with illustrations it tries to be all things to all people and ends up doing not much well, but those few things are very good. But still I came away wanting just that little bit more. A good example is the lack of unit size numbers for nearly all of the countries covered. Actually, I wish Digby had scrapped all the historical, tactical, technological sections and just stuck to uniforms.

Although there are about 250 plates devoted to showing a uniform of an individual unit this actually just scratches the surface. Consider, there are about 30 plates of the units of Great Britain plus another four plates of Kings German Legion and Brunswickers combined, another four to the East and West India companies and seven of other foreign troops who fought under the British. 16 of those plates are used to show British line infantry. Considering the changes in uniform, Scots units, varying Rifle companies and battalions this gives you just enough information to paint most of the British units you might want. This pattern is repeated for all the major combatants.

If you want a cheap introduction to the uniforms of the Napoleonic wars that is jam packed with illustrations then this is the book to get. Although, if you want to start modeling you would probably need more.

The The Napoleonic Source Book by Philip J. Haythornthwaite lacks the color plates but has a much better collection of information on uniforms and uniform changes. If you can get a copy, grab it. Plus, he also gives a good idea of the varying sizes of units throughout the era and a whole lot more.

Napoleon's War in Spain: The French Peninsular Campaigns, 1807-1814 by Henry Lachouque et al and Military dress of the Peninsular War, 1808-1814 by Martin Windrow are good examples of campaign centered books that really give you a great understanding of the uniforms of the period without having to resort to Osprey (although, if you wanted to spend that much money, Osprey are great, most being very good but some still vary in quality). Both of these books have less color plates than Digby's book but give a much better view of the uniforms.

And if you want a book on battle tactics of the Napoleonic era then a great place to start is Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon by Rory Muir.

One of my favorite books for uniforms, as lopsided as it is, is Hourtoulle's Soldiers and Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars. This book uses tableaux instead of Digby's individual soldiers and is therefore able to show many more examples of soldiers within a regiment (plus the backs usually) but not as many individual units overall. Still a fantastic book. Or if you have the money get Elting and Knotel's spectacular NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS: 2 Volume Boxed Set and NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS: Vassals and Enemies (2 Volume Set, Volumes III & IV).

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, Colorful Intro to the Period, January 18, 2007

By 

L. Levandowski (Peoria, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars: campaign maps; Provides an unrivalled source of visual information on the fighting men of the period (Hardcover)

The previous reviewer gave this book only one star; definately way off the mark...and not fair to this great book. For one volume, priced under USD $40, this is a great source of basic information on the uniforms of France, Austria, Russia, England and Prussia. Minor nations are mentioned, but their treatment is not very thorough.

The book is packed with hundreds of full color illustrations of uniforms from the various branches and unit types; hussars, lancers, artillery, guards, infantry, sappers and many more are all represented. Facing tables are included. The book does not contain enough detail for the grognards (hardcore wargamers), but it does contain a great deal more than many other books. I would highly recommend this book to someone just starting out. I would also recommend it as a painting guide for someone who did not have hundreds of dollars to spend on other books.

Certainly, this one book is a great replacement for my aging dog-eared volumes by Liliane and Fred Funcken. I do wish the book had more rear views of equipment, something the Funckens did quite well.

As a bonus, the book also contains an overview of the major campaigns and structure of each nations forces. Again, great information for someone just starting to learn about the period; or those more experienced who are looking for an overview in one volume.

As a napoleonic gamer, who would love to see the genre grow, a great book like this one is the stuff that will get us there. For a new gamer, napoleonics can easily seem inaccessible, because of the cost, and amount of information one must sift through to understand the period. So kudos to Digby Smith, for getting so much great information in one, well-priced book, and for a job well done!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite an encyclopedia, September 21, 2008

By 

Pedro P. (Southern US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: An Illustrated Encyclopedia: Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars: campaign maps; Provides an unrivalled source of visual information on the fighting men of the period (Hardcover)

Provides a very broad overview of campaigns and a decent amount of pictures, but no way is this an "encyclopedia" of "uniforms." That being said, it is a decent value. You could buy 5-6 other lesser cost books (such as Osprey) and end up with the same amount of media.