The Campaigns of Napoleon

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	The Campaigns of Napoleon
	by David G. Chandler Sales Rank: 203011	~~List Price: $85.00~~ $53.55 At Amazon on 8-7-2008.

*Features* Cover Type: Hard Cover with 1172 pages Published by: Scribner March 1, 1973 Written in: English ISBN 10 Number: 0025236601 ISBN 13 Number: 978-0025236608 Book Dimensions: 9.6 x 7 x 2.4 inches Weighs: 4 pounds *Product Review* Eliot Fremont-SmithBooks of the TimesA massive and absorbing -- one is tempted to say definitive -- account and detailed analysis of the military career of Napoleon.The descriptions of the battles -- all the important ones, and all augmented by superb position maps -- have perhaps never been done with greater clarity. The New York Review of BooksChandler can hold up his head with the best of them. His prose is as clear as his intellect.his scholarship is excellentthis is a fine book for the historian, the student, and the intelligent reader. Los Angeles TimesChandler's analysis is so thorough that there is hardly an area untouched. The New YorkerThe book is engrossing, andamounts to a first-rate general account of Europe in the Napoleonic era.brilliant, unremittingly attentive to detail and sparkling with insights into a man, a nation, and an epoch. The Boston GlobeWriting clearly and vividly, [Chandler] turns dozens of persons besides Napoleon from mere wooden soldiers into three- dimensional characters. John BarkhamBook WeekIn every waya pleasure to reada remarkable work which comes as close to dissecting the ingredients of Napoleon's military genius as any I have read[it is] that rare combination -- a book impeccable in its expertise, penetrating in its analysis, and attractive in its presentation. No matter how numerous your books on Napoleon, make room for this one. St. Louis Post-DispatchFew works equal the scope and scholarship of Chandler's The Campaigns of Napoleona masterpiece in the truest sense of what military history ought to be. *Product Review* The Boston Globe Writing clearly and vividly, [Chandler] turns dozens of persons besides Napoleon from mere wooden soldiers into three- dimensional characters. *Reader Reviews* Exhaustive, authoritative, monumental, The Campaigns of Napoleon is not the definitive operational study of Napoleon's campaigns. That designation goes to A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars by Brigadier General Esposito and Colonel Elting which came out two years prior to Chandler's work. This large volume, however, is a valuable book and it is highly recommended to have on every Napoleonic book shelf. Most of the information contained in the volume can be used with confidence, and it is an excellent research tool. Napoleon's Correspondence has been thoroughly used throughout the book, but some dubious resources have also been referenced, such as Jomini's work, Liddell Hart's dubious tomes, Marmont's and MacDonald's memoirs, and the dubious memoirs of Bourrienne, which are mendacious and quite worthless, as well as Thiebault's inaccurate ghost written memoirs, and Thiers inaccurate work. The section of the book entitled Napoleon's Art of War needs to be used with care. The author tries just a little too hard to systemize Napoleon's method of making war, and generally denigrates the abilities of his subordinates, without whom he could never have achieved as much as he did. The general indicators tend to try and convince the reader that Napoleon didn't train his subordinates in the higher military art. This is incorrect. Those generals that formed his hand-picked generals aides-de-camp, who were all experts in their particular military specialty were all trained by the Emperor in his art of war, and were expected to show initiative and were able to carry out independent missions without supervision. Some of the senior generals and marshals, such as Davout, Suchet, Lannes, St. Cyr, and Massena, were either as skilled as their Emperor, or had military skills of their own. Additionally, the author attempts to throw some doubt on the French generals leading from the front, which they invariably did-one need only look at the casualty lists for the general officers of the period to verify that point. Grouchy was wounded 23 times in 25 years, Oudinot 34 times. Lannes took ten wounds in sixty battles. Napoleon himself was wounded three times and had nineteen horses shot out from under him. Napoleon's understanding of the art of war was both 'cerebral and visceral.' When the acknowledged principals of the military art didn't quite fit a certain situation, Napoleon's innate understanding as both a soldier and a general usually held him in good stead. This is where the author misses the mark in this huge work-he doesn't convey to the reader just why Napoleon was both a skilled soldier and a great general, he simply tries to 'codify' his way of making war, which with Napoleon really isn't possible, in my opinion. The author does admire Napoleon very much, and tries very hard not to. He does characterize Napoleon's final defeat, though, as a giant being pulled down by pygmies, which I found to be very profound and quite accurate. This book is recommended, and everyone should have it. However, if you are only going to own one book on the Napoleonic Wars, this one is not it-A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars is. Comment \| \| (Report this) Back To Top
The Campaigns of Napoleon Available from Amazon Price: $53.55 Updated on 8-7-2008.

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