Books in english

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:14 am

Hi,
I have many, many, many books in french about Napoleonic era but I have only one book in english , "Imperial Bayonet" from G. Nafziger.

Could you tell me the better books in english about this period ( Uniform, army...).

Thank you very much. Very Happy

Site Admin Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 174

A couple of my favorites are ...

Brent Nosworthy's "With Canon, Musket and Sword"

Mark Adkins' "Waterloo Companion"

I also appreciate "Essential Histories: The Napoleonic Wars" series for general overview and perspective.

For enjoyment and a little more down to earth point of view, there's "The Recollections of Rifleman Harris" edited and introduced by Christopher Hibbert.

Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Naples, Fl

I also have Adkin's "Waterloo Companion" and think it's a wonderful book. For me however, the book that most turned me on the the era is"Napoleon, The Last Campaigns 1813-15." It is very well written and loaded with maps and illustrations, both contemporary and modern. ( I rarely even pick up a book without illustrations. I am probably missing a lot of good information, but I just love pictures.) I foolishly gave my copy away several years ago (thinking I was done with the hobby), and recently re-acquired a copy (thank-you e-Bay). Also via e-Bay, I am collecting issues of three English-speaking magazines, "The Age of Napoleon", "Empires, Eagles, and Lions", and the best, "Napoleon (International) Journal."

Don

Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 23

I am working my way through "Essential Histories: The Napoleonic Wars" right now, very good.

Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 22 Location: Foxton Beach nz

Hi
I've got a very old copy of Philip Haythornthwaite's Uniform of Waterloo in colour published by Blandford Press of London and a copy of Cassell Military paperbacks titled Borodino and the War of 1812 by Christopher Duffy. Both books are great value, especially the appendix with the different divison and strenghts, etc.

Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Minnesota, USA

Greetings,

New to the forum, but a long-time Napoleonics gamer and reader.

My List of favorite books (in no particular order):

"The Campaigns of Napoleon" - David Chandler
"Swords Around a Throne" - John Elting
"Blundering to Glory" - Owen Connelly
"Armies on the Danube" - Scott Bowden
"A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars" - Elting
"Prince Eugene at War" - Epstein
"Austerlitz - 1805" Bowden
"Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Napoleonic Wars" - Rory Muir

There are many others... for campaign histories, it's hard to go wrong with anything by F. Lorraine Petre or George Nafziger. I have a number of Nafziger's titles on 1813. Very detailed, but difficult reading... Nafziger is a scholar not an author in my opinion.

Scott Bowden has done a lot of research into the field, and as long as you take into account his Francophile bias, you can get some good stuff out of his books.

Anything by John Gill is worth reading as well.

All my opinion of course.

Site Admin Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 174

Thanks for that list, Kutusov.

Hey, does anyone have any recommendations for books which focus on Prussia?

Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Naples, Fl

Osprey has several books on the Prussians.

Don

Site Admin Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 174

Yup. Have the Ospreys. Smile