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The Jena Campaign 1806
First published in 1909, this balanced and gripping narrative gives a key insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the Napoleonic and Prussian armies while relating and analyzing every move of the campaign. Diagrams illustrate the combat tactics of the various arms of the opposing forces and excellent maps allow one to follow with ease the twists and turns of a campaign that was fought across the breadth of Germany.
202 pages, Hardcover
First published June 22, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 21, 2020
A classic military history of one of Napoleon's major, yet understudied campaigns. Written in 1909, in a period when many classic works on the Napoleonic Wars came out just before the First World War, it covers the Jena Campaign of 1806. It only covers the campaign against Prussia up to Jena, it pays no attention to the rest of the War of the Fourth Coalition.
The introduction takes a rather unusual approach, beginning with a psychological analysis of the French Revolution, its causes and consequences. The first chapters cover the French and Prussian armies respectively, beginning from the era of Frederick the Great and following their development.
The analysis of the Prussian army is well written, but outdated. It repeats several myths on the Prussian infantry and cavalry that have been discarded in more modern works, but it also sheds some light on lesser-known factors such as the psychological aspects of the Prussian attempt to use the fourth rank in a line and the diet of the Prussian horses. The coverage of the Prussian artillery is not inaccurate for what it is, but is very brief and misses several important facts and aspects. This is partially due to the fact that many German archives on the arm were still unavailable.
The French army is covered in a better manner, but the analysis still suffers from some outdated elements. It provides some interesting statistics, which is noteworthy.
The next parts cover the manoeuvres and plans before Jena, both the Prussian and French perspective are given pretty much equal attention and are covered in a fair bit of detail.
The Battles of Jena and Auerstedt themselves are covered in a fair manner, but the descriptions are not as detailed as I would have liked. While the troop numbers for the battles are something I would question, a detailed analysis for the casualties at Auerstedt is given.
The book closes off with comments from the author, covering some ''what if'' scenarios and military theory. The military theory parts are interesting, but are heavily outdated in their approach.
Even though the book was written over a century ago, the writing style is very colourful and lively, moving quickly and clearly.
A good account of the Jena Campaign, though it's considerably outdated and not as detailed as I would've liked, it also doesn't cover the rest of the Prussian Campaign after Jena.
Final Rating: 7/10
The introduction takes a rather unusual approach, beginning with a psychological analysis of the French Revolution, its causes and consequences. The first chapters cover the French and Prussian armies respectively, beginning from the era of Frederick the Great and following their development.
The analysis of the Prussian army is well written, but outdated. It repeats several myths on the Prussian infantry and cavalry that have been discarded in more modern works, but it also sheds some light on lesser-known factors such as the psychological aspects of the Prussian attempt to use the fourth rank in a line and the diet of the Prussian horses. The coverage of the Prussian artillery is not inaccurate for what it is, but is very brief and misses several important facts and aspects. This is partially due to the fact that many German archives on the arm were still unavailable.
The French army is covered in a better manner, but the analysis still suffers from some outdated elements. It provides some interesting statistics, which is noteworthy.
The next parts cover the manoeuvres and plans before Jena, both the Prussian and French perspective are given pretty much equal attention and are covered in a fair bit of detail.
The Battles of Jena and Auerstedt themselves are covered in a fair manner, but the descriptions are not as detailed as I would have liked. While the troop numbers for the battles are something I would question, a detailed analysis for the casualties at Auerstedt is given.
The book closes off with comments from the author, covering some ''what if'' scenarios and military theory. The military theory parts are interesting, but are heavily outdated in their approach.
Even though the book was written over a century ago, the writing style is very colourful and lively, moving quickly and clearly.
A good account of the Jena Campaign, though it's considerably outdated and not as detailed as I would've liked, it also doesn't cover the rest of the Prussian Campaign after Jena.
Final Rating: 7/10
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January 5, 2022Disappointing
The author goes to great lengths to how the Prussians could have won and how the French could easily have lost. Moreover, the overall picture that he gives of Napoleon 's command style is one of carelessness and lack of detail. I was amazed at the level of bias in this work.
The author goes to great lengths to how the Prussians could have won and how the French could easily have lost. Moreover, the overall picture that he gives of Napoleon 's command style is one of carelessness and lack of detail. I was amazed at the level of bias in this work.
September 6, 2019
Informative, but a dry, dated text.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews