Customer Reviews

The Napoleonic Source Book

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

 

 

I found this 'Napoleonic Source Book' to be a good and useful overview of the Napoleonic Wars.

Haythornthwaite has divided the book into 7 sections. The first 60 pages are a brief descriptions of all the campaigns from the French Revolution to the end of Waterloo. And brief is the operative word - there isn't much space to go into explanatory detail here. I find it useful - my interest is predominantly in the Peninsular War but I know very littleof the other French campaigns.

The second chapter is on the weapons and practice of War. I know this is a somewhat controversial issue. I did find Rory Muir's book a lot more convincing on this subject - but then he was a lot longer.

Haythornthwaite then tries to do a very difficult thing, he has a chapter on the nations involved in the war, dozens of them from grand countries like Prussia and Russia to tiny backwaters like Piedmont and Reuss. You can see the potential problems when everything from uniforms to structure is tried to be explained.

The three sections I like best are next. He has one with potted biographies of the main players in the war - a great starting point I think. He also has a section on the sources he used for this - I don't know about you but I love bibliographies and his has some wonderful new books I hadn't come across before, and finally a section on miscellanea which I have found very helpful - from various calendars and colours to artillery tables.

I think this is a highly ambitious project and Haythornthwaite has done a pretty good job of it.

This book proves that Philip J. Haythornthwaite has done a great deal of research in the past on military tactics and oganization during the Napoleonic wars. This book is the perfect information source for anyone interested in wargaming or the reinacting of early 19th century warfare.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the armies and military structures of the nations involved in the Napoleonic conflict. Easy to read and understand, it covers not only the militaries but also the military theories and weapons common at the time. The only detraction from this book is that its coverage of the fleets of the participants is rather weak. Nevertheless, this is a first rate military work.

This book is a must have for both the serious scholar and mere dabbler in the history of the Napoleonic Era. It provides a succint and understandable description of the major components of the era including the tactics, weapons, nations and people. A valuable resource for historical study, miniature wargamers, and anyone interested in the period.

It is not a definitive end all book, it is however an excellent summary intro book with some depth. It will give you an understanding of the periods/phases of the war, the armies involved, some politics and some unit descriptions. All in all this has been the most useful book to give a general understanding of the period and the dynamics that existed at that time.

I recently discovered this author's excellent "source book" on World War I, which was published two years after this one, so this is obviously the model for the series. (Or it would be a "series" if he would do any more of them -- which I wish he would.) While my knowledge of the history of the Great War was rather thin, however, I know a good deal about the war between France and the Allies between 1792 and 1815, so I feel better able to judge in this case. And I'm pleased to say the author has again brought together a huge amount of information on a very large subject, and in which he is an acknowledged authority -- though he tends to run the details of military uniform into the ground. As with the World War I book, there are seven major sections. "The Campaigns" is a straightforward chronological survey of events, principal players, diplomacy, and changing grand strategy. The section on weapons and "minor tactics" (familiar to officers in the field from every participating nation) is an excellent survey of the musket, carbine, saber, lance, and the many forms of artillery in use, as well as the principal functions of the main military branches -- infantry, cavalry, artillery, and commissariat. The next section (the longest of the book) considers each nation and state that took part, from France, Britain, and Russia -- which, naturally, have the longest articles -- to minor players like Anhalt, Berg, Norway, Venice, and the United States. This includes artificial constructs like the Ligurian and Cisalpine Republics. A section of forty-odd biographical sketches covers both the great leaders (like Wellington) and the disastrous ones (like Murat). Finally, the author surveys the most important sources on the period, both memoires by participants and standard histories of later date. A section of "Miscellanea" sorts out the various conflicting calendars and systems of measurement, as well as outlining the British and French military budgets. The emphasis throughout is on land warfare, with the war at sea getting only a brief mention -- but this is okay because there are a great many other sources available on the Royal Navy's virtual control of the seas. This is a great book for browsing and the numerous anecdotes and quotes from soldiers' accounts liven things up considerably.

I particularly read subjects I have little knowledge on- Ottoman
Empire and Egypt to see what was new I could learn; then all other sections for content and scanned a few
of the other nationalities for 'accuracy'.

Found little to excite me- sure knowing the detailed history of the
Janissaries up to 1825 (napoleonic??) was interesting, but was there
the same level of coverage of actual organisations, uniforms and
military matters. No. Could I attempt a basic army off this volume-
no. So why not get it from Turkish and Egyptian resources- do the
world a favour! Same with callouts- how about some quotes from
'foreign' language texts, instead of the repeated Brit ones?

Best Points
-Single volume resource, worth every cent (whatever that is!).
-Can't replace the need for illustrated texts (uniforms) but as an
overall synopsis of pre-history, Revolutionary and Napoleonic society
and military personalities and events, great.

-Campaigns coverage, appropriate use of timeline and simplification of
the 'Treaties' issues that created each military campaign in succession.
-Inclusion of 'Artists' and the various resources they created very
welcome summary. (yes I knew most of them but having a compendium in
one text IS a bonus).
-Nice to see a nod of acceptance for 'wargming' and 'reenactment'
given the huge followings of those hobbies. Could have added artifacts
and collectors to round out subjects.
-Brief biographies useful and informative, if wordy in parts.

Format in sections was generally good. Personally I would have used
the 'Sources' preamble as an extended preface or introduction
(avoiding the wordy and pulpy 'quotes' that were used there to
'justify' the text).

Overall good treatment of each nations forces, with somewhat variable
complex of 'political and military strata' discussion beforehand.

Worst points
Disappointing to see an accomplished author continuing to hoe 'English
nationality' issues and not objectively rising above that. Parochial
British cover and end papers.

Callouts and some illustrations quite pro-British where more use of
European resources would have been appropriate.

Given that the majority of the book is a summation of others work
(fair enough), the lack of actual research where the information wasnt
available otherwise is disappointing.

'Guesses' of various issues when some research would have produced
facts. (IIRC, wasn't an Act of Parliament necessary to CREATE the
British rank of Field Marshal to reward Wellington for the Battle of
Vittoria et al Espana- not JUST that KGIII 'sent him a British 'baton'
in return? as per one caption).

Didn't use regimental names in lists except for the Brits- yet every
source volume has them!

Some colour could have been used inside the volume. Colour photographs
of actual museum or private collection pieces would have elevated the
whole volume (say 2 colours plates per section?) along with
appropriate 'unknown' naval subjects. B&W illustrations for flags and
standards are just pointless.

More info 'generals and commanders' than just the French Marshals
would have been appropriate. (Yet a few portraits that I hadn't seen
before were observed.)

++++++++++
I'd expect a seasoned author and SME to have applied more editorial
control to the work- and yet given the access and ease of obtaining so
much of the data copied from other recent sources (ie Ospreys) some
additional effort on these colour and information issues would have
made it a 9.75 book at least!

cheers, dave