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Charles J. Esdaile

Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803-1815 Hardcover – November 13, 2008

by Charles Esdaile (Author)

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A glorious?and conclusive?chronicle of the wars waged by one of the most polarizing figures in military history

Acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic as a new standard on the subject, this sweeping, boldly written history of the Napoleonic era reveals its central protagonist as a man driven by an insatiable desire for fame, and determined ?to push matters to extremes.? More than a myth-busting portrait of Napoleon, however, it offers a panoramic view of the armed conflicts that spread so quickly out of revolutionary France to countries as remote as Sweden and Egypt. As it expertly moves through conflicts from Russia to Spain, Napoleon?s Wars proves to be history writing equal to its subject?grand and ambitious?that will reframe the way this tumultuous era is understood.

Print length

672 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Viking
Publication date

November 13, 2008
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0670020303
ISBN-13

978-0670020300
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Historians of Napoléon Bonaparte must assess his role in causing the wars named after him. Esdaile assigns heavy responsibility to the first consul and self-crowned emperor yet declines to analyze the period in exclusively personal terms. Rather, he develops the intersection between Napoléon’s militaristic proclivities and the international relations on which he dreamed of hammering his name into history. Much of Esdaile’s narrative recounts conflicting agendas of the European powers and dwells particularly on suspicions of Britain by Austria, Prussia, and Russia. In degrees, these powers all pursued their traditional foreign objectives, sparking several wars entirely unrelated to France’s territorial expansion. In consequence, France, spurred by its leader’s lack of political restraint and thirst for conquest, was able to war advantageously against one or two powers at a time until the formation in 1813–15 of the alliance that finally defeated Napoléon. Recapturing the flux of international diplomacy and Napoléon’s congenital rejection of compromise, Esdaile persuasively places the diplomatic foundation to popular military histories about the Napoleonic wars. --Gilbert Taylor

Review

"[A] masterly account of the Napoleonic wars . . . Makes the familiar story fresh."
-The Economist

"A joy to read . . . Attractive, well written and, on occasion, pleasantly idiosyncratic . . . A splendid book."
-Literary Review

"Deft, authoritative, often strikingly counterintuitive, this is the definitive word on the subject."
-Telegraph (UK), Books of the Year

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking; 1st edition (November 13, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 672 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0670020303
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0670020300
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.8 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,953,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #750 in Napoleonic War History (Books)
- #5,188 in French History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
68 ratings

Customer reviews

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4 star		23%
3 star		10%
2 star		9%
1 star		9%

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Top reviews from the United States

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ashleyjordan

Compromise our way to victory!

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2017

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Wonderful, insightful geopolitical account of the Napoleonic wars set on an international scale, which is unique compared to most other books on Napoleon that are often a biography or a detailed account of Bonaparte's military campaigns. Esdaile presents an eloquent and compelling depiction of the emperor from his humble origins to the zenith of power all the while exposing his many inconsistencies and manipulative tendencies. I most appreciated that the author argued that coalitions were not motivated as much by an ideological clash between republicanism and absolutism, but rather, in how traditional 18th century factors disrupted Allied unity until they realized that compromise and cooperation mutually benefited all parties much more than prolonged rivalries did. A highly recommended objective take on Napoleon!

9 people found this helpful

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Thomas Reiter

Good Diplomatic History

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2017

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I wanted to leave a review of this rather good diplomatic history of the Napoleonic period. I thought that the book was well-written, informative, and probably worthwhile reading for anyone interested in this period.

While not intended as criticisms, I wanted to point out a few things about the book for potential readers:
1) The book's title is a bit misleading, because it is primarily a diplomatic history and spends very little time on military issues. Major battles are described in a sentence or two, or sometimes only mentioned in passing. Of course there are plenty of other military histories for this period, but I wanted to point this out.
2) As other reviewers point out, the author is not a fan of Napoleon, and is borderline hostile. While it is hard to argue with many of his conclusions, personally I find arguments more convincing if made in a more objective manner.
3) As other reviewers have pointed out, while not a big deal, this book is a bit difficult to read because it is not broken down into very digestible chunks--everything from paragraphs to chapters are of great length.
4) The best thing about this book in my opinion are all of the quotes from letters from and memiors of the various historical actors (from Napoleon to junior officers, Metternich, etc) which the author frequently uses to make his points--reading these first-hand accounts from these highly intelligent and articulate observers was a real pleasure and revelation.

11 people found this helpful

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R. Sam

Truly an International History

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2015

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This book by Charles Esdaile deserves better treatment than what it gets from its reviewers on Amazon.

This book is about the international scene at the time of Napoleon and it does it quite well. If you want to learn all about what was going on in the world at the time of Napoleon's reign, this book is an excellent read. The book is about what each nation was doing and what each king, his advisors, or government were thinking in relation to the reshaping of Europe as the result of the French Revolution and Napoleon's military victories. Esdaile's book is about the complex political realities that faced all nations Britain, Austria, Russia, Prussia, Ottoman Empire (etc.), to the most minute actors such as the Kingdom of Naples during the Third Coalition. Not to be forgotten, Spain plays an important role in the narrative and the book goes so far as to cover events in the Americas (Spanish America, The U.S., French Louisiana) and how they impacted affairs in Europe.

Esdaile does place a lot of the blame on Napoleon's personality as the cause for war and this may raise a slight red flag of bias (because in some cases one could argue Napoleon had no choice owing to the actions of the British and other nations). Still, Esdaile makes a good case and does show how other authors have explained the causes of. Allegations of a perceived bias denies the fact that Esdaile may be making a really good argument which is his right to do and which makes it unique.

The book does not claim to be a book on military history. The battles are mostly covered in short detail. So, if you are looking for military history look elsewhere. As stated before, this is a book on international history in relation to Napoleon's wars.

I would like to note that Esdaile writes like a professional. His historical prose and erudition flows. This makes for a pleasurable read which is not tiresome. I did see someone criticize the book here on Amazon for poor proofing. I have read it cover to cover and only found six grammatical errors such as the use of a "had had" which was simply unnecessary, a "the that," or the spelling of nevertheless as "never the less." The errors did not detract from my reading of the book but probably should have been picked up by the editors.

My only other comment would be that the chapters can be long. If I were the editor and this book was to be printed again, I would suggest to the author that he put in subheadings to break the chapters up, so that a reader has a place to pause. It would also help in certain areas where the author transitions from one topic to another.

Despite these two minor points, the book is a great read if you want to learn about the world at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.

11 people found this helpful

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Nicholas Roberts

Truely an international history, from the British point of view.

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2013

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This was an excellent book dealing with the Napoleonic Wars taken as a whole. It dove into the other minor theaters of the war that are often called by different names. These include the War of 1812, the Russo Turkish War of 1806-1812, and the Russo-Swedish War of 1808-1809. This book shows how these conflicts were not separate wars, but part of the greater Napoleonic Wars in one way or another. The Russo Turkish War was declared with Napoleon allying to Turkey and pushing her to pursue war as she did.

The book also tries to make some sense of the complicated diplomatic games being played during this period. Every one of the nations in Europe was allied to BOTH France and Great Britain at some time during these twelve years. Using the example of Turkey again, they were allied with France from 1806 to 1807 and fought both Great Britain and Russia. Then in 1807 France allied with Russia making the Turks the enemy of France. This conflict was truely an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" sort of thing. Esdalie tries to make sense of this but it is confusing and I recommend reading this book several times.

The only downside is that this is not too much of a military history. It touches on all the conflicts to one degree or another, but doesn't cover the real military parts. This is more of a diplomatic histroy than anything else. Even so this is 500+pages. A truely international dipolmatic and military history would be well over 2,000 pages. One just hopes that will come out soon!

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

JWH

Informative & Definitive Overview of the Napoleonic Wars at the Strategic Level

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2019

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This history of the Napoleonic Wars is different from the usual fare, since it focuses heavily on the politics and strategy of the contending parties rather than the details of the operations or the battles. Economic factors are explained, although not in great detail. This is all a very useful shift in viewpoint, since so much of the literature concentrates on the details of those battles, or the personality of Napoleon, or the character of the armies and navies involved. Readers expecting concentration any of those things might well be disappointed although the character of the Emperor can hardly be ignored when considering the strategy and politics of the period, and is thus given due attention.
The author is a well-known critic of Napoleon but given that, I thought that his treatement of the Emperor relatively fair and all of his criticisms substantiated. However, given the layers of hagiographical literature built up around the Emperor, there are inevitably going to be some facts and interpretations that modern fans of the Emperor will find intensely irritating.
The central strategic fact of the Napoleonic Wars - that Napoleon's France could only be defeated by the concerted efforts of all of the other major powers - is given due prominence, and most importantly, why those concerted efforts did not happen until late on. This explains the emphasis on areas that are neglected in other histories, particularly the relations of Russia with the Ottoman Empire and Persia, since the attention of Russia could be, and often was, diverted by problems and opportunities in the Balkans and Caucasus: Esdaile makes the provocative point that the most important conflict of the period was that between Russia and Persia, since Russian success ensured that Central Asia would eventually come under Russian, not Persian domination. Other neglected areas - Britain's relations with Sweden and Sicily for example - are also covered in some detail.
The writing is quite dense, although thankfully jargon-free. However, although the book is full of interest for those interested in political strategy and international affairs, it doesn't have the liveliness that some of the accounts of the campaigns and battles have. This book is therefore recommended to the more serious student of the period and/or for those more interested in the political side of the conflict. It is a very useful resource for those who need more context for the character of the Emperor or the warfare of the period, but not those readers whose interests are more limited in focus.

3 people found this helpful

The Keen Reader

Napoleon's Wars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2015

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Charles Esdaile is an authoritative author on the era of Napoleon. He is Professor of History at the University of Liverpool, and has published several books, including works on the Napoleonic Wars, the Prussian Army at Waterloo, Women in the Peninsular War, The Duke of Wellington, and the Peninsular War. This book was first published in 2007, so remains a relevant source on Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars, a subject which can be subject to much scholarly revision with new discoveries and interpretations of material.

The author has taken the period from 1803, when war broke out again after the Peace of Lunéville and of Amiens, and when the so-called Napoleonic Wars themselves started after the end of the Revolutionary Wars, through to 1815, with the final defeat and abdication of Napoleon after the Battle of Waterloo.

Moving largely chronologically (though sometimes diverting into thematic subsections of necessity, to explain background and relevant material to the particular battle or war), the book covers, firstly the background to and origins of the Napoleonic Wars, then the action from Brumaire in 1799 to Amiens in 1802, and then the outbreak of war and the Third Coalition, through the various theatres of war across Europe to Waterloo in 1815. The action moves widely across the whole canvas of Europe, including Britain, and also includes some discussion about related areas that impacted on the Napoleonic War, such as the Spanish holdings in America, and the new United States of America itself.

The wars that took place over the main 12 year period were horrific in their scope, their death and destruction, and the social, cultural and economic impacts that they had on millions of people over so many years. Yet the Napoleonic Wars remained very much the result of the vision and ambition of that one man, Napoleon. It was not until the other European powers eventually and temporarily overcame their own prejudices and ambitions that they were able to form a coalition strong enough to finally overpower Napoleon’s own French and allied forces. It was only in 1815 that allied unity and compromise ovecame hegemony, and for just long enough that compromise proved strong enough to stop Napoleon once and for all.

A great read, this book is a must for anyone seeking to better understand Napoleon, and the impact that the Napoleonic Wars had on Europe; not just the Europe of Napoleon, Metternich, Alexander I, Wellington and all those well-known names, but the Europe of the small people (whose voices are often heard in the book through excerpts of letters and journals), and on the Europe of the future that had to live with the consequences of the settlements made at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

3 people found this helpful

Eoghan Fallon

T

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2018

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As described and great book too

joethelad

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 11, 2015

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Brilliant

Mr. R. G. Hanna

Excellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2009

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A superb book. The author shows an understanding of the period that is unrivalled in any other general history of the Napoleonic wars. International relations, rather than military developments, are the focus of the work and even those with a longstanding interest in this era will emerge enlightened. It is, moreover, writen in an engaging, accessible and often entertaining style.

12 people found this helpful

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