Customer Reviews

Soldiers and Uniforms of the Napleonic Wars

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

 

 

If you have any interest in Napoleonic Uniforms this is one book I would highly recommend. It has over eighty plates covering the Napleonic soldier from the Egyptian Campaign to the fatal day at Waterloo. It includes many pictures of Napoleonic cavalry and infantry including Red Lancers, Dragoons, Hussars, Chassuers, Line Infantry, foreign troops and a host of others. It does focus primarily on the French but it also covers other nationalities. I hate looking at Napoleonic uniform plates in black and white. You miss the nuances of the uniforms, facings and piping. This book has all 80 plus plates in color. Hours of enjoyment await any uniform enthuiast perusing this book. The artist Jack Girbal is the principle illustrator but Patrice Courcelle also contributed to this work. Both with their own style convey the beauty of the Napoleonic clothing.

This book does have its faults. It was originally written in French and poorly translated into English. All the books of the Histoire Collection who published it seem to translate their works in one of those online translation services. The English is poor and laborious. I unfortunately have come to expect this poor quality of translation by Histoire Collections.

This book does give some detail to the life of General La Salle, the Hussar General. About 6 or 7 plates cover various episodes of his military career. A short history and a description of the units military importance is highlighted in the text.

This is a wonderful book on Napoleonic uniforms. I highly endorse it for its fine colorful prints.

This must have book is a signifant improvement over the French text version published several years ago. All the Hourtoulle's plates are included, the colors are vibrant and lively, not static pictorials of soldiers in a white background. Though the translation is somewhat halting, it is of rich detail, telling of events that made the careers of such legends as Lasalle and the Colbert brothers. As expected there are plates of the Guard and Line Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery; but there are also several plates of hard to find units, such as the Tirailleurs de Corsica and Po.

This is a wonderful book with over 100 color plates. I counted and this does not include the blow-ups of many parts of these that are presented separately. The quality of the plates varies as three different artists were involved in the project, but even the worst are quite good. There is a definite bias to the uniforms of the French and its allied nations (see the list below). Accompanying nearly every plate is a page describing the scene and its circumstances or perhaps general information about a battle, campaign and uniforms. The one thing I would have liked when I was thinking of buying this book was a better idea of what was in it. So below I have summarized the sections and plates. The plates are of French troops unless otherwise stated and where there is more than on plate it is recorded (#). Some Plates have no accompanying information (eg chapter title pages) and so I have not described these.

Before the Empire: Lasalle at Vicenza; Lasalle and 22nd Chasseur and 15th Dragoon vs Osman Bey's Mamelukes; 10th Hussars.

1805: 19th Dragoon at Elchingen; 18th Dragoon at Elchingen; General Pajol and 6th Hussar at Ulm; The Great Charge at Austerlitz.

1806: 7th Hussars and 5th Hussars vs the Queen's Dragoons (Prussia); General Colbert, 10th Chasseurs and 3rd Hussars at Jena; Marechal Davout and line infantry at Auerstaedt; Lassale, 5th and 7th Hussars.

1807: Gendarmes d'ordonnance; Murat and D'Hautpool's Cuirassiers at Eylau; Murat and the 13th Chasseurs at Eylau; Baron Lepic and the Grenadiers a Cheval at Eylau; Murat, aide de camps and Espagne's Cuirassiers at Heilsberg; Napoleon and staff reviewing Lasalle's cavalry at Elbing.

1808: Isemburg Regiment; The Emperor's household; The Emperor's Berlin.

The Peninsula, 1808-14: Lasalle and the Polish Chevau-Legers; Lasalle, Gendarme d'Elite and Dragoons at Medina de Rio Seco; Garde de Paris(2); 10th Chasseurs vs the Infante Regiment (Spanish); 10th Chasseurs; 2nd Hussars(2); 13th Cuirassiers; Gendarmerie de Espagne(2); Neuchatel Battalion; Foot Artillery; Young Guard; Isemberg Regiment; Vistula Legion(2); Chasseurs de Montagne.

1809: The Bavarian Troops; General Coehorn, Corsican Tirailleurs and the 14th Chasseurs at Ebersberg; Jordi's Regiment (Austrian line, 'German') vs French light (24th?) at Aspern; General Espagne and the 4th Cuirassiers; Pontooners; The Baden Infantry 1809, 3rd Baden Regiment vs Austrian Line 'Hungarian' (2); 1st Chasseurs a Cheval(2); Fusiliers of the Guard(2); Artillerie a Pied of the Guard.

In Garrison 1810-13: Berg Chevau Legers(2); Nansouty's Cuirassiers(2); 11th Hussars; King Murat and Neapolitan line regiment and Neapolitan Grenadiers of the Guard(3); 30th Chasseurs.

1812: General Chouard's Carabiniers, 4th Lancers and Chevau-Legers; General Montbrun and the 9th Hussars; King Jerome, Grenadier Guard and Kings Lifeguard (Westphalian); Westphalian Hussars; 7th Regiment (Westphalian); 2nd, 5th and 6th Regiments (Westphalian); General Pajol, 2nd Chasseurs and 9th Polish Lancers; Saxon Chevau-Legers(2); General Gudin and sappers at Valutina; Russian Guard vs 12th Line; Portuguese Legion(2); 1st Voltigeurs of the Guard(2) and Novgorod Cuirassiers (Russian, 1); Saxon Brigade (Lifeguards, Von Zastrow Cuirassiers(2)); Dragoons of the Imperial Guard; 2nd Regiment of Grenadiers; Croats in the Grand Armee(2); Hessian Chevau-Legers; Baden Hussars(2); Lithuanian Tartars.

1813: Naval Artillery; Jerome Napoleon Hussars; 13th Hussars; Field Hospitals and Medical Care; The Krakus (Polish).

1814: Guards of Honour(2).

1815: Allied Forces 16 June 1815 (Brunswickers, British 92nd(2)); Wellington's staff at Waterloo; English Horse Artillery; Red Lancers(2); Young Guard.

A very worthwhile book for the wargamer and modeller. Pictures were highly detailed and provided a good reference source. Outstanding book well worth the money.

I can't add further praise on this book over the two earlier reviews except to note that there are additional plates by Patrice Courcelle which are an excellent improvement over the French version.

This is a very unique approach to a book about uniforms. Instead of just several still pictures with brief captions, this book gives stories that make the uniforms really come to life. As an avid reader of Napoleonic books and collector of miniatures, I give this two thumbs up for the vast number of uniforms it covers, the nationalities (there's more than the French) represented, and the stories/information that you learn from the author. A great read and great reference overall.

Awesome color plates and artwork. The text is abysmal - terribly translated. Also this is basically a coverage of French uniforms - and not exhaustive at that.......so the title is pretty misleading. This does not remotely cover all armies or periods.

All that being said - still a wonderful reference. Price is fair for the return. But expect frankly absurd text and coverage of the French and not much else.

A "must have" for all military historicans, military miniature collectors and Napoleonic miniature wargamers!

very good book and excellent color plates, but a bit scewed towards french uniforms and some important nations missing. no austrians for example.

This book is undeniably well illustrated.

However, As the three star poster indicated, this book is difficult to read and decipher. It is an adventure to try and page through this book and have an understanding of what you are looking at. The text is not the best and descriptions for the images are a painful to read.

I am wholly disappointed with one of the best pieces of eye candy in my collection.

Justifying 2 stars: I just cant reconcile how bad the text in this book is. The illustrations are a 5 star. The captions for the illustrations are 1 star, and the text is 2 stars.