Die Hard!: Dramatic Actions of the Napoleonic Wars

by PhilipJ.Haythornthwaite (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1996

  $4.21

  The way most military history is written, you get the impression that warfare is largely a matter of tactical and strategic theory, and that human courage and ingenuity play only minor roles. This study focuses on the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and determines that many battles were decided by countless small actions by obscure individuals. These accounts were selected from some of the most desperate actions of the period, from decisive battles to sieges, as well as less important and significant episodes within a larger action. Some, such as the battle of Villers-en-Cauchies, were remarkable for their unpredictable outcome through the determination showed by one side. Others, such as Napoleon's bold leadership at Marengo, changes the course of military strategy by breaking the established rules.