Overview
'In war, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or peril...' (Sun Tzu The Art of War). We speak of Caesar who conquered Gaul, not the legions; MacArthur who landed at Inchon, not the Marines - and we speak of Napoleon, one of history's most successful generals. Major General Jonathon Riley is supremely well qualified to write on Napoleon's generalship and has written an informed and insightful account. He opens with a short treatise on generalship in order to define Napoleon's achievement before moving on to the man himself. He examines Napoleon as a strategist; as a coalition commander; Napoleon's campaigns and Napoleon on the battlefield. Areas often ignored in the context of pre-industrial warfare - logistics and counter-insurgency - are also examined. Riley proceeds to three specific case studies beginning with Napoleon's first essay in generalship and the conquest of Piedmont; Napoleon at the height of his powers at the conquest of Prussia, to Napoleon's final defeats and the Battle of the Nations in 1813.
Full Product Details
Author: Lieutenant General Jonathon Riley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: Hambledon Continuum
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.40cm
, Length: 23.40cm
Weight: 0.512kg
ISBN: 9781847251800
ISBN 10: 1847251803
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 01 October 2007
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Language: English
Reviews
A welcome and worthwhile interpretation of Napoleonic campaigns with an highly unusual perspective BBC History Magazine--, B'nai B'rith International Jewish Monthly
An insightful treatise on the emperor's generalship, written by an officer in the British army. -David Lee Poremba, Library Journal, December 2007--, Library Journal
A welcome and worthwhile interpretation of Napoleonic campaigns with an highly unusual perspective BBC History Magazine--, B'nai B'rith Magazine
A welcome and worthwhile interpretation of Napoleonic campaigns with an highly unusual perspective BBC History Magazine--Sanford Lakoff B'nai B'rith Magazine
Author Information
Jonathon Riley was appointed as Director General and Master of the Armouries in June 2009. Before that he held military commands on operations in the Balkans as a battalion and brigade commander, in Sierra Leone as Joint Task Force Commander, in Iraq as Divisional Commander, and in Afghanistan as Deputy Commander of all NATO forces. He has an MA and a PhD in history and has published eight books including Napoleon as a General (Continuum 2007)
