SWORDS AROUND A THRONE
NAPOLEON'S GRANDE ARMÉE
by Colonel John R. Elting (USA, Ret.)

9.5 x 6.5 in.  769 pages.

Throughout history, few armies have left as great and enduring a legend as Napoleon's Grande Armée. In existence for only a decade, this powerful weapon--numbering at its peak over one million soldiers from France as well as from varied vassal and allied states--swiftly conquered vast territories across Europe and threatened to overrun more. In this outstanding new masterwork, military professional and historian John R. Elting paints an exciting, detailed picture of the magnificent fighting force created by the genius and power of Napoleon.

Complimenting the author's acclaimed Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, which described the Grande Armée's campaigns and battles, this comprehensive volume examines the inner workings of an incredibly complex human machine. Skillfully drawing on a vast array of historical sources, Elting colorfully brings into focus the life of the Grande Armée: its origins and development, command system, organization, combat arms and services, logistics, weapons, tactics, discipline, and its ultimate collapse.

History engaging as a war novel, Swords Around a Throne recreates the daily life of the Grande Armée's soldiers and leaders and the conditions under which they existed and fought, including rations, pay, mud and disease, mobile hospitals, camp followers, loot, marches, baggage, uniforms, and more. Placing the rader in the boots of individuals, from yardbird conscripts to generals, Elting carries us along the Armée's path, through triumph and disaster, in peace and at war. Sharing the experiences of the men (andwomen) who served in, services, and supported this awesome military force, the reader meets the Emperor himself, his extraordinary officers such as Berthier, Caulaincourt, New, and others, as well as the ordinary Frenchmen and foreigners who, impued with the Armée's unique fighting spirit, followed its eagles.

Swords Around a Throne, the result of three decades of scholarly research in the Napoleonic era in general and its military history in particular, is certain to be the definitive volume on the Grande Armée for decades to come.

COL JOHN R. ELTING (USA, Ret.), is the author, co-author, or editor of nine books including The Superstrategists. He is also a contributor to the renowned Napoleon's Marshals and Napoleonic History: A Bibliography.

"A masterpiece: quite simply, John Elting's fine book is the best I have ever read on this challenging subject."

- David Chandler
"The master has not lost his touch. Colonel Elting's Swords Around a Throne now takes first place among the books, in any language, on Napoleon's great military establishment, the Grand Army."
 
- Hugh S. Bonar, Jr., California State
University, Los Angeles
 "Without doubt, Colonel Elting has written the definitive work on the Grande Armée. And it is superb reading, by turns anecdotal, descriptive, or analytical, with narrative segments that roll like cavalry charges. Elting is a master historian.
 
- Owen Connelly, President, Society for
French Historical Studies
 "Col. John Elting's book will immediately become the most authorative volume in the English language on Napoleon's Grand [sic] Armée. This massive study is packed full of information and details about the creation and operation of each component of Europe's greatest army--from headquarters to the commissariat to the postal system. In all, a brilliant contribution of immense value to any scholar or buff of the Napoleonic period."
 
- Donald D. Howard
Florida State University
 "Colonel Elting, drawing on his vast experience both as a soldier and a military author, examines Napoleon's army from its revolutionary origins to the last days of the empire, looking at officers and men, the various arms and their equipment, administration and supporting services, as well as daily life in camp and on campaign. Based on massive research, Elting has written a definitive work that fills a major gap in the literature and will become must reading for military historians, buffs, and wargamers alike."
 
- Gunther E. Rothenberg
Purdue University
Free Press  ISBN 0-02-909501-8

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