
I woke up one morning and over my café au lait realized I
knew nothing about Napoleon Bonaparte, probably the most significant Western
military leader in modern history, so I poked around a bit and bought David Chandler's
Napoleon,
which seemed to be a standard text.
I read the Chandler, put it down disappointed. Lots of
meaningless stuff about troop movements ("Kutusov was still determinedly
withdrawing towards his rendezvous at Znaim with Buxhowden," p. 65) but little
of what I was looking for about what Napoleon did that made him different from
others, what his innovations were, how the enemy adjusted, and what he did
next. Chandler's concluding section, on Napoleon and the art of war, did some of that -- but not the previous five
chapters.
I'd welcome any suggestions for a book on Nappy that
illustrates and discusses him as a military leader, and even compares him to
his contemporaries.
Also, best book about Wellington vs. Napoleon?
Published on December 08, 2011 02:17