Overview

The Napoleonic Wars saw fighting on an unprecedented scale in Europe, Africa and the Americas. It took the wealth of the British Empire, combined with the might of the continental armies, almost two decades to bring down one of the worlds greatest military leaders and the empire that he had created. Napoleon's ultimate defeat was to determine the history of Europe for almost 100 years. From the frozen wastelands of Russia, through the brutal fighting in the Peninsula to the blood-soaked battlefield of Waterloo, this book tells the story of the dramatic rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire.

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9781841768311

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Reviews

Novelist Bernard Cornwell tells us, in his foreword to this compendious and colourful volume, that he has 2000 books on his shelves about the Napoleonic Wars. This book, part of Osprey's Essential Histories series, condenses a daunting range of material into a wonderfully clear, well sign-posted account, presenting a variety of perspectives on the wars and their background. The 1802 Treaty of Amiens was a mere pause in the power struggle between England and France, an end to the Revolutionary conflict but a prelude to what would be known as the Napoleonic Wars. The charismatic Corsican, Napoleon Bonaparte, had come to power in 1799 advocating invasion of France's enemies, rather than mere defence. World domination was his ultimate goal, but his forces succumbed in turn to British sea power, inhospitable terrain, guerilla warfare and strategic errors. Perhaps his vaulting ambition was his biggest enemy. Lavishly illustrated, the book begins at Amiens and traces the story of Napoleon's rise and fall. Whether one is looking for a map illustrating the Friedland campaign, an account of the life of a soldier in the Peninsular War, or a musician in the Grande Armee, it will be easy to find here. From defeat at Trafalgar, it traces the victories in his lightning strikes of 1805-7, and the Peninsular Wars in which the terrain of the Pyrennees and the Sierra Morena - plus the people of Spain themselves - conspired to thwart France.('The Spanish Affair', Napoleon would later say, 'was what killed me.') The Russian and German campaigns, and of course the catastrophe for the Emperor unfolding in eight hours at Waterloo, complete a volume packed with information for both the student, the lay historian, and the fan of Cornwell's Sharpe series. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Foreword by Bernard Cornwell, author of the bestselling 'Sharpe' novels. Authors Todd Fisher and Dr Gregory Fremont-Barnes are amongst the world's leading Napoleonic scholars. Todd Fisher is the Executive Director of the Napoleonic Alliance, a founding member of the International Napoleonic Society, and Chief Executive Officer of Emperor's Press and Napoleon Journal. Gregory Fremont-Barnes holds degrees in history from the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Chicago, and the University of Oxford. He is the author of 'The French Revolutionary Wars' (2001), and is currently co-editing the four-volume 'Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War'.

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