Napoleon s Wars: An International History, 1803-1815
£6.66
A useful addition to a crowded field - Napoleon s story has been told again and again and there is a veritable industry set around the Napoleonic wars, but this book aims to be different. It doesn t go over old ground recording every detail of Napoleon s campaigns and battles (indeed there are none of the usual maps and diagrams of the famous battles) but seeks to show the effect Napoleon had on Europe at the time and the consequences of his actions. There are some lovely colour plates and some useful maps of various bits of Europe, but ironically by taking this less obvious path the author loses some of the impact of the period and some passages drag a little. On the whole though this is still a readable book but better informed students of the period will have to put it in it s appropriate place in the Napoleonic library.