Armies of the Napoleonic Wars (General Military)

 

Product Description

Review

"Well, all-in-all this is a great buy for the price, and it is certainly a great alternative to getting at least a dozen other "Osprey" titles separately. As an easily accesible introductory text, every Napoleonic wargamer's library should have a copy of this book." - History in Miniature, "history inminiature.wordpress.com" (October 2009)
"Two of the main strengths of the book are the illustrations and the detailed descriptions of the major armies. The illustrations are well done. If you are a modeler, you will appreciate the detailed, full color illustrations - these include uniforms and types of artillery used by the different national armies. In addition, the inclusion of illustrations showing the different battle formations and movements of the infantry was a good visualization. With regards to the detailed descriptions of the major armies, the chapter's of the book are generally divided by country. Each chapter has a general overview of the particular country's army and then sections on the infantry, artillery, and cavalry. You gain a better understanding of the strategies and tactics that each country embraced in the various wars... This book is an excellent addition to any military history library." -Jeff Grim, "Collected Miscellany/collected miscellany.com" (December 2009)
""[Armies of the Napoleonic Wars] "covers all the armies that took part in the Napoleonic Wars, including those of relatively lesser-known, smaller countries. The book gives an overview of each army at the start of campaigns, then goes on to provide precise information on the infantry, cavalry, artillery and command structures. There is plenty of detail for those interested in the minutiae of the daily life of a Napoleonic soldier, including his rations, weapons and drill. Just about everything one would ever want to know about the armies of the Napoleonic Wars is included in this book." -Geoff Woods, "Toy Soldier & Model Figure"
"This book would appear to be as rare a

About the Author

Chris McNab is an author and editor. To date he has published over 25 books, including Twentieth Century Small Arms (2001), Gunfighters -The Outlaws and their weapons (2005, contributing editor), The Personal Security Handbook (2003), The Encyclopedia of Combat Techniques (2002) and The Illustrated History of the Vietnam War (2000). He is the co-author of Tools of Violence (2008) and has recently completed Deadly Force (2009), both for Osprey. Chris has also written extensively for major encyclopedia series, including African-American Biographies (2006), USA 1950s

 

Product details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Osprey; Reprint edition (20 Aug 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1849086486
• ISBN-13: 978-1849086486
• Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 19.2 x 2.9 cm

Cromwell, Our Chief of Men by Antonia Fraser

No Englishman has made more impact on the history of his nation than Oliver Cromwell; few have been so persistently maligned in the folklore of history. The central purpose of Antonia Fraser's book is the recreation of his life and character, freed from the distortions of myth and Royalist propaganda.

Cromwell was a man of contradictions and surprising charm. This decisive and ruthless commander was also a country gentleman and a passionate connoisseur of music. Of Cromwell's fitness for high office, this fascinating biography leaves no doubt. Under his rule English prestige abroad rose to a level unequalled since Elizabeth I, yet his campaign in Ireland has cast a shadow over his reputation.

Antonia Fraser displays great insight into this complex man and reveals a totally unexpected Cromwell, far removed from the received stereotype.

Critical Acclaim

‘Cromwell: Our Chief of Men is a fine achievement of scholarship and writing... a magnificent success'
Sunday Telegraph

‘A great theme and a fine book’
Evening Standard

D-Day: The Battle for Normandy Anthony Beevor

D-Day: The Battle for Normandy

Even Stalin was awed by D-Day. ‘In the whole history of war,’ he wrote to Churchill, ‘there has never been such an undertaking.’ Those who took part in the great cross-Channel invasion, whether soldier, sailor or airman, would never forget the sight. It was by far the largest invasion fleet ever known. Nor, of course, would the German defenders alerted at the last moment on the Normandy coasts.
The very scale of the undertaking and the meticulous planning were unprecedented, but although the beachheads were established, it soon became clear that the next stage of the battle would be far more difficult than anyone had imagined. The thick hedgerows of Normandy were ideal for the defender and the Germans, especially the Waffen-SS divisions, fought with cunning and a desperate ferocity. Making use of overlooked or new material from over thirty archives in half a dozen countries, Beevor shows how the British, Canadian and American forces became involved in battles whose savagery was often comparable to the Eastern Front.
Casualties began to mount and so did the tension between the principal commanders on both sides. French civilians, caught in the middle of these battlefields or under Allied bombing, endured terrible suffering. Even the joys of Liberation had their darker side. The war in northern France marked not just a generation but the whole of the post-war world, profoundly influencing relations between America and Europe.
There have been many different books on D-Day and the battle of Normandy, but never one researched quite like this. This is the first major account of D-Day and the battle for Normandy for over twenty years. Antony Beevor, depicting events in a similar way to the preceding volumes of Stalingrad and Berlin the Downfall, shows the true experience of war.

Antony Beevor's D-Day: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy is the closest you will ever get to war - the taste, the smell, the noise and the fear.
The Normandy Landings that took place on D-Day involved by far the largest invasion fleet ever known. The scale of the undertaking was simply awesome. What followed them was some of the most cunning and ferocious fighting of the war, at times as savage as anything seen on the Eastern Front. As casualties mounted, so too did the tensions between the principal commanders on both sides. Meanwhile, French civilians caught in the middle of these battlefields or under Allied bombing endured terrible suffering. Even the joys of Liberation had their darker side.
'Antony Beevor's gripping narrative conveys the true experience of war.As near as possible to experiencing what it was like to be there. . . It is almost impossible for a reader not to get caught up in the excitement' Giles Foden, Guardian
'No writer can surpass Beevor in making sense of a crowded battlefield and in balancing the explanation of tactical manoeuvres with poignant flashes of human detail' Christopher Silvester, Daily Express
Antony Beevor is the renowned author of Stalingrad, which won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Wolfson Prize for History and the Hawthornden Prize for Literature, and Berlin, which received the first Longman-History Today Trustees' Award. His books have sold nearly four million copies.