NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS: Volumes 1 & 2

Napoleonic Uniforms

by John R. Elting

In 1993 The Macmillan Publishing Company set the Napoleonic enthusiast community alight when it produced the major two volume work, Napoleonic Uniforms by John R. Elting, featuring the superb works of the famous illustrator Herbert Knotel. Now, in an unprecedented transatlantic co-operation, Greenhill Books in London and Casemate Publishing in the USA are together bringing these books back into print after some 14 years. This new edition, as before, will be sold as a two volume set. In addition, the new edition will be presented in a cloth bound slipcase. Pagination and an index have been added, significantly enhancing its reference value.

Napoleonic Uniforms is the only reference work of its kind to depict accurately the entire Grande Arme'e in detail. It portrays the French armies as seen by their contemporaries, and combines authoritative text with lavish illustrations, enabling the reader to experience the spectacle first hand.

Napoleonic Uniforms also depicts the various types of soldiers within the various regiments of the Grande Arme'e - officers, sergeants, color-bearers, bandsmen, drummers and trumpeters, privates and surgeons. In addition the volumes contain material on lesser-known formations such as the Army of Egypt (1798 - 1801), the pre-Revolutionary French Army, and Napoleon's police and internal security organizations.

Nine hundred and eighteen original watercolors by Herbert Knotel, an internationally acclaimed authority on military uniforms, with a special talent for depicting men and horses in action, bring the nineteenth-century French soldier to life. Together with the late Colonel John R. Elting's definitive captions, they preserve a significant aspectof this famous era for historians, researchers, teachers, students, model makers, "uniformologists," and the general reader interested in this historical period.

REVIEWS

" Along with the striking artwork by Herbert Knotel, Elting's tome provides the background and history of each uniform of the various types of soldiers in the Grand Arme'e (who would have thought there could be so many?). Besides historians, toy soldier buffs will love this title. A stunner."9/15/07 Library Journal

"This edition is quite stunning From its gold embossed red cloth covers with stitched binding to its beribboned red slip case it is destined to be a collector's item very quickly "R. Burnham, The Napoleonic Series, 09/2007

"A Major Upgrade of an Outstanding Work ...Anyone interested in Napoleon and/or military art in general will want a copy of this truly outstanding set. Knotel captured the soldiers in a unique and fascinating way that makes the viewer feel he is seeing them as they really were. Congratulations to Greenhill and Casemate for bringing this important work back to life. I am certain that John would be very pleased "

J. David Markham, Historian/Author, www.NapoleonicHistory.com

Genres: Military History

988 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

John Robert Elting was a soldier for thirty-five years (1933-­1968), with a couple of civilian interludes as a high school instructor. His first commission had been from the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Stanford University in 1932. He combined this with summer duty in Company H (machine-guns), 163rd Infantry Regiment, Montana National Guard, and then as an officer in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1940 Elting became an ROTC instructor at Oregon State College. From then on he was continually in service until 1947 (71st Armored Field Artillery Battalion, the Tactics Department of the Armored School at Fort Knox, Combat Command B, 8th Armored Division in the Rhineland, Ardennes, Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns, 24th Field Artillery Battalion of the Philippine Scouts). In 1948 he was recalled, after a short civilian interlude as a teacher, and was assigned to the Armed Forces Information School and, from there, to the Military Academy, West Point.

In 1954 John Elting's turn for overseas duty came up and he was posted to the J-2 (Intelligence) Division of the Far East Command, returning to West Point in 1957. There he began researching and writing the Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, with Colonel Esposito acting as overall editor and advisor.

Between 1965 and 1968, Colonel Elting served as G-2 of the Washington Military District, before retiring in 1968.

After his retirement, Elting turned his attention to writing and research (in his own modest words, he "tried to be a historian"). He was the author, co-author or editor of sixteen books, including The Battles of Saratoga, American Army Life, A Dictionary of Soldier Talk, A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, Swords Around a Throne and Napoleonic Uniforms. He took particular delight in the history of Napoleon's Army - and the French emperor's campaigns - and in the study of the American Revolution, but was a considerable authority on all aspects of military history. His knowledge was deep, and he gave generously of it, and for many he served as an inspiration. He also served as a historical consultant on the Time-Life World War II book series and authored "Battles for Scandinavia" in the series.