Rating: 
Summary: the complete history of napoleon's campaigns...and genius!!!
Review: Whilst browsing around a bookshop one day I stumbled across a book by John Elting called "Swords around a throne- Napoleon's Grande Armee". It looked pretty interesting and as I had no inkling about Napoleon or his Grande Armee I decided to buy the book. After reading it again and again I was hooked!!! I needed more info about the great man and his campaigns. Which brings me to "The Campaigns of Napoleon" by David Chandler.I read numerous reviews and all indications were that this was THE book to get on the subject. Well let me say I was not disappointed. This must be the best one volume treatment of Napoleon and how he wielded his Grande Armee! The book is very thorough and comprehensive...not for beginners. I found I had to read it twice to fully comprehend what was going on. This led me to buy Elting and Esposito's "A military history and atlas of the napoleonic wars". This book desribed step by step with excellent maps what Chandler had described and more since it dealt with all the napoleonic campaigns and not just the ones in which Napoleon had been involved as does Chandler's work. All in all the above three books are must haves. Swords around a throne describes Napoleon's weapons- his Grande Armee, Campaigns of Napoleon describes the history of his use of the weapon and the atlas desribes how he used it in detail. Get all three!!!
Rating:
Summary: the complete history of napoleon's campaigns...and genius!!!
Review: Whilst browsing around a bookshop one day I stumbled across a book by John Elting called "Swords around a throne- Napoleon's Grande Armee". It looked pretty interesting and as I had no inkling about Napoleon or his Grande Armee I decided to buy the book. After reading it again and again I was hooked!!! I needed more info about the great man and his campaigns. Which brings me to "The Campaigns of Napoleon" by David Chandler. I read numerous reviews and all indications were that this was THE book to get on the subject. Well let me say I was not disappointed. This must be the best one volume treatment of Napoleon and how he wielded his Grande Armee! The book is very thorough and comprehensive...not for beginners. I found I had to read it twice to fully comprehend what was going on. This led me to buy Elting and Esposito's "A military history and atlas of the napoleonic wars". This book desribed step by step with excellent maps what Chandler had described and more since it dealt with all the napoleonic campaigns and not just the ones in which Napoleon had been involved as does Chandler's work. All in all the above three books are must haves. Swords around a throne describes Napoleon's weapons- his Grande Armee, Campaigns of Napoleon describes the history of his use of the weapon and the atlas desribes how he used it in detail. Get all three!!!
Rating:
Summary: Best book on Napoleonic Warfare
Review: You won't find a better book on the history of the Napoleonic Wars and Napoleon's strategic and grand tactical ideas in the English language. Chandler describes fully each campaign and battle ever personally lead by Napoleon in the greatest detail. His chapter devoted to Napoleon's art of war provides the kind of analysis and synthesis of Napoleon's strategic ideas and battle methods you probably can't find anywhere else. An absolutely fantastic book for anyone interested in either Napoleonic history or the military thought and concepts of one of history's greatest soldiers.
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