Customer Reviews

The Napoleonic Wars (Cassell History of Warfare)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a neat little book, with a nice variety of illustrations and a compact but very readable text. In only 217 pages, the author cannot and does not get bogged down in details. The work is intended only as an introduction and overview of the wars, which is all most American readers need. Personally, I knew almost nothing about the Napoleonic wars, and was just looking for some background in order to better enjoy novels and movies set during the period. This work met that need admirably, and I plowed through it in a couple of evenings.

Enthusiasts of the period will learn little from this, but again this book is not aimed at them. For those wanting more detail, and who are willing to spend the time it takes to study this period in detail, there are many longer works, including some by this author, as well as by Chandler, Esposito, Elting, etc. There are also excellent longer works dealing with specific campaigns, such as Austerlitz, Jena, Wagram, the 1812 Debacle in Russia, the Penninsular war, etc. But if you are looking for a brief, readable, and well illustrated introduction, this book will do the trick.

This work in the Cassell History of Warfare series edited by noted historian John Keegan concerns the Napoleonic Period. A phase of military history notable for large armies, the rise of nationalism as a motivating force, and the development of a class of professional officers who actually began to study and reconsider military theory. Rothenburg does an admirable job in covering these ideas and giving a broad survey of the major campaigns, weapon systems, and military theories. For the more serious specialist readers, books about specific campaigns and battles (i.e the endless number concerning Waterloo) can fill in the fine details. For the academically minded, David Chandler's classic Campaigns of Napoleon remains definitive, but only focuses on the Emperor. In short: excellent for the non-specialist browser who might be curious in the conflicts which led to the creation of modern Europe.

Napoleon Bonaparte influenced warfare more than any other figure of his age, and arguably more than any other figure of history. He almost conquered Europe, and his influence spread through society in a myriad of ways, from sugar beet production (which he stimulated) to tactics (which he influenced but did not reinvent). This book concentrates on the military aspects of his influence, and the wars he beget over the last dozen years of his influence, 1803-15.

Cassell has a number of these histories out now, short books lavishly illustrated with pictures and beautiful maps. The Napoleonic Wars covers the central events of Europe 1803-15. The book begins with two chapters that summarize events before the period the book focuses on, and Napoleon's life before that era. We then get five chapters, about a hundred and fifty pages of narrative recounting the major campaigns of the wars of Napoleon. Each of the campaigns only gets a few pages, and battles often only are briefly mentioned. When there's more detail, as at Waterloo, the narrative still moves quickly and only a few pages suffice to recount what happened.

Rothenberg is one of the better-known historians of the Napoleonic age. His main point here (and he's made the point elsewhere) is that these wars weren't the last wars of the classical age, but the first ones of the modern one. I would submit that in ways they were both, but that's more of a nuance than an actual difference of opinion. The points he makes are generally well-reasoned, and the narrative tends to support them.

Books that deal with Napoleon tend to divide into two groups: those that praise him to the heavens, and those that are critical of him, to a lesser or greater extent. This book falls into the latter category, though the criticisms are generally gentle. The few other soldiers who get some attention (Wellington, Archduke Charles, and Blucher) are only cursorily covered.

The maps are gorgeous, and illustrate the narrative pretty well. I would recommend this book to the casual reader who wished to know something more about the Wars of this era.

As a sort of arm chair historian I found this book a little disapointing. It provides an overview of the Napoleonic Wars, but doesn't touch on the sociopolitical climate at all. It follows a chronological organization, but doesn't repeat dates often enough to a reliable timeline. On the other hand the maps are a treasure well worth the expenditure. I've found better timelines on websites, better overviews of the era at the library, and there are many more detailed sources available.

Despite it's short comings I consider this book one of the pillars of my Napoleonic library, because of the many colour prints and pictures and the European maps showing territories controled by various players (French, English, Prussian, etc.) at different points during the war make it an excellent companion to more detailed texts such as Chandler, Osprey, and the Esposito-Elting Atlas.

If you are interested in the Napoleonic Era and European history in general, this book is highly recommended as a ready reference guide. Like any convenient reference, it is best used as a quick refresher once a lot of more comprehensive reading has already yielded a rich background.

The book is very sturdy. My copy has been to Europe about six to eight times and it is no worse the wear. It is also a nice size -- little more than a handful. The illustrations and maps are very colorful, all with much of the classic military art of the era to give a rich and classic feel to the book.

I find myself reading and reviewing this book at train stations and airports. When I want a quick note for something I am writing or thinking, I usually go looking for this little gem first. Even if I don't find what I am looking for the book reminds me of the best places to look further.

The book is a very good value and has given me hours of pleasure -- not only for its content, but also for its utility.

"The Napoleonic Wars" by John Keegan is a good introduction for anyone who wants to know more about the various battles, strategies, and campaigns of Napoleon. Admittingly, I am a life-long American Civil War and American Revolutionary War student and wanted to "branch out" into other military history periods.

The book is about 240 pages and contains 7 chapters that deal with various aspects of Napoleon's military career: Egypt, Spain, Russia, Germany, and Waterloo.

The book's narrative is easy to read and there are ample colorful and detailed maps outlining the various campaigns.

A highly recommended resource for the person interested in an introduction to Napoleon's campaigns.

Bearing near-total ignorance of the Napoleonic era in all geopolitical aspects, I decided to chance reading this book, even though several reviews here warned this was not the right book for someone starting from zero.

I should have heeded that advice.

The Napoleonic Wars is lavishly illustrated, meticulously edited and generally well-written. But unless you are already well-versed in the personalities, geography, politics and military of the period, you're going to be disappointed.

The book essentially takes thee parts: Opening chapters covering Napoleon's career as a general, the formation of his basic fighting principles, and a quick account of his ascent to the throne; several chapter-based reviews of his campaigns prior to the fall of Paris and exile; and a final chapter on Waterloo.

In that the book is so well-written, it's not a total loss for the neophyte; you will leave knowing more than when you started. But total beginners, like me, are going to forget 90 percent of what's here, thanks to it having little to no context. Unless you want to know about a particular battle or campaign, there's no point behind reading this book; it's all trees, no forest.

For example, like most pre-World War I histories, this volume doesn't provide a period political map that can be easily referenced when long-since-departed regions and towns are named in the narrative.

There is a glossary of notable characters at the rear of the book, but it's worthless because there's no attention paid to anyone except as proverbial chess pieces. Characters are examined only within their value to a given battle's outcome; their names might as well be "rook" or "bishop."

Another nice addition would have been tables of organization and equipment for typical army and corps units of the nations in question. This book focuses extensively on Napoleon's improvements to force size, organization and equipment. A few TO&E charts would have helped clarify the differences.

That said, the maps and battle diagrams in this volume are outstanding, but lose value due to the trade-paperback size and binding; they're just too small to fit on a single page, and the binding too deep and fragile to stretch effectively over two pages.

Had the Smithsonian History of Warfare trimmed the narrative by half, doubled the number of illustrations and maps and increased the page size fourfold, they would have produced a beautiful coffee table book that I would have looked at, admired, then passed over in my efforts to learn about Europe's Napoleonic era.

As it is, they and I chose to do other than as advised. Both of us therefore cheated ourselves out of what we could have had.

This is a good, crisp read for those who are interested in learning about the military campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte. The period in question covers the years from the 1790s to 1815. It summarizes each major battle very succinctly. The maps are quite remarkable, and if you're like me, sometimes they distract you from following the narrative as you want to examine them so closely. I've never gone in depth when it came to studying the Napoleonic Wars, so when I saw this book at a bookstore, it naturally caught my attention.

This book also examines the key military figures on both sides, most notably Napoleon, of course, but also some of the allied commanders, such as Wellington, Archduke Charles, and others. Napoleon's marshals also get a fair amount of attention; the author likes to size them up for their talents and weaknesses as commanders, as he does for Napoleon and others. As history reveals time and again, occasionally a remarkable leader emerges who seems to shine above all others, but no matter how great he or she may become (in actuality or in perception), they too eventually fall. Such is the case with Napoleon, but that's part of what makes reading history so interesting.

The author of this book believes these wars may not have marked a major technological shift in warfare, but the scale and mobilization efforts launched by nations had changes significantly as a result of Napoleon. This is not a comprehensive study of the Napoleonic period, but nor was it intended to go beyond the military aspects.

Rothenberg does about as good a job as can be expected condensing a subject as vast as Napoleonic Wars into a relatively small volume.

This author is an impeccable, authoritative scholar. His book on the Napoleonic Wars is a compact wonder of clear, well organized exposition. This is objective, factual description of the campaigns, personalities, and consequences of Bonaparte's epic career. It offers valuable perspective to the twenty-first century reader.