Jena to Eylan, the Disgrace and the Redemption of the Old-Prussian Army; a Study in Military History

by Charles Francis Atkinson

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Genres: Military History

396 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather old book by a man who extolls the Prussian Army in the low days after their defeat at Jena-Auerstedt in 1806. The narrative deals with the contnuing confrontation between France and Prussia along with Russia. It ends with the battle of Eylau in 1807 in which Prussia makes a valiant stand against France. Unfortunately, it took over eight years for Prussia to take its final revenge against Napoleon.

The book has been made into an electronic version with quite a few errors. The author does tend to be very subjective, and even rants from time to time, which is tedious. There are more modern books to be found on the subject.

[Jacob G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of detail on how the Prussian army fell apart after their defeats at Jena. My main takeaways:

1. Prussia would have done better securing peace if they had worked a lot harder at keeping their army intact and not surrendering piece-meal. If you will have peace, prepare for war is true in defeat too, I guess.

2. The author is much more warlike and patriotic than his subjects. The fanatical nationalism of the French called forth the same in the other nations. Europe became less civilized.

3. He is derisive of the engineering-mathematical engineering approach to war. I see WWI here. 1st the failure of the officer class, and second the rise of the storm trooper.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written over a hundred years ago, this book reflects a time when the author could espouse a militaristic Germany because of what happened in Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars. Prussia was severely defeated in 1806, but began to rally its forces in 1807 until by 1813, it had become a mainstay of the coalition which defeated Napoleon, not once but twice. The book makes you wonder if the author changed any of his ideas after 3 power struggles that Germany underwent in the early 1870s, 1914-18, and 1939-45.