Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803-1815No other soldier has provoked as much argument as Napoleon Bonaparte. Was Napoleon a monster, driven on by an endless, ruinous quest for military glory - or was he a social and political visionary brought down by the petty, reactionary kings and emperors, clinging to their privileges? Napoleon's Wars is a book which has no doubt about Napoleon's insatiable greed for military glory, but it is interested in far more than that. Charles Esdaile is profoundly interested in a pan-European context- what was it that made the countries of Europe fight each other, for so long and with such devastating results. The battles themselves he sees as almost side-effects; the consequence of rulers being willing to take the immense risks of fighting or supporting Napoleon - risks which resulted in the extinction of entire countries. This is history on the grandest and most ambitious scale- a superb reassessment of a tumultuous era. |
Contents
The Origins of the Napoleonic Wars | 15 |
From Brumaire to Amiens | 71 |
The Peace of Amiens | 110 |
Copyright | |
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