New Napoleonic Books

I have gotten a great stack of new books that I thought some might like to learn more about. However, I am not sure where to start. So I thought I would throw it open to readers: what book would you like reviewed first? Below are the books I have gotten. The first lot are from the Military History Press and the second are from the Nafziger collection, the Nafziger collection can also be bought through Amazon. I bought both direct and the experience was great with both.

Poles and Saxons of the Napoleonic Wars by George Nafziger, Mariusz T. Wesolowski and Tom Devoe

'This is the most complete and thorough study of the Poles and Saxon during the wars of Napoleon, including their organization, uniforms, and accounts of their performance on the battlefield. From the desperate action of a handful of Poles defending a Spanish fortress to vast armies facing off to determine the fate of Europe, this lavishly illustrated work is researched from sources previously unavailable to any but the most ardent historian. It has no equal in any language.' Buy it here

Napoleon's Last Grande Armée by Alfred Umhey

'These rare, exceptional paintings provide invaluable eyewitness evidence of the uniforms of the period, quite set apart from the sometimes fanciful, second-hand works of modern artists. Unlike many uniform plates, the illustrations in these two artists' portfolios show what Napoleon's men actually wore on campaign.' Crazy expensive but I got it for half price for a black friday sale (I live in Australia, not really sure what this is, but I was happy). Buy it here. 

Napoleon's Apogee by Scott Bowden

'A century after the appearance of the original work, Bressonnet's study now makes its English-language debut to an ever-growing audience interested in learning more about the fascinating details of Napoleonic warfare. To supplement Bressonnet's original as completely as possible, I have the honor to work with the visionary professionals at Military History Press, who agreed to include, among many other things, the French after-action reports from which Bressonnet drew many of his details, plus newly-created maps and exciting tactical diagrams and much more. Hopefully, this lavish volume will be both a worthy salute to the legacy of the brave soldiers who fought this epic campaign, and also to Bressonnet himself, who we have kept in mind each day as we strove to equal his passion and high standards.' Again, quite expensive but I grabbed it on sale. Buy it here.

The Glory Years: Napoleon and Austerlitz 

'This is an unprecedented detailed combat study of the vastly different armies and leaders that fought the fast moving battles of the 1805 Ulm-Austerlitz campaigns. Sweeping battle narrative, coupled with new, detailed maps and precise orders of battle make Scott Bowden’s latest history of Napoleonic warfare an instant classic. Napoleon and Austerlitz is a must for any Napoleonic or military history analyst.' Buy it here.

Nafziger Collection books

There was a focus here on getting material on the Ottoman army and war with the Russians, it also links in with my Russian army I am working on.

IMPERIAL BAYONETS
By George F. Nafziger
Illustrations: Hundreds of diagrams, charts and tables
Pages: 263pages
$60, pefect bound soft cover
This is the third edition and the 5th or 6th printing of this work. It examines the maneuvering systems of the French, Prussians, Russians, Austrians and British from 1792 to 1815. It studies infantry maneuvers and firepower, cavalry maneuvers, and artillery. It is THE definitive work on Napoleonic tactics.

THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR OF 1806-18121
By Baron von Valentini
Translated by G.F.Nafziger
Illustrations: 4 maps
Pages: 82 pages
$19.95 soft cover
This differs from the Michailovsky-Danilevsky work in that it contains a chapter on the tactics of both sides, plus a theoretical discussion of campaign strategy. It also contains detailed discussions of the battles. It provides a German perspective on the war, incomparison to the Russian perspective of Michailovsky-Danilevsky.

RUSSO-TURKISH WAR OF 1806-1812
By Lt Gen. Michailovsky-Danilevsky
Translated by Alexander Mikaberidze
Size: 11" x 8.5"
Illustrations: numerous B&W maps
Pages: Volume I - 149 pages
Pages: Volume II - 156 pages
$25.00 per volume, soft cover
To my knowledge this is the only work in English on this obscure Napoleonic campaign. It is a very detailed account of six years of warfare between the Ottomans and the Russians, supported with 15-20 maps per volume of the theater and detailed maps of the battles. It contains orders of battle for the Russians, but not for the Turks (sorry!) The both volumes are now available.


TACTICS OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS
By Alexander & Yurii Zhmodikov
Size: 8.5" x 11"
Vol I - Russian Army in the 18th Century & Tactical Response to the French Revolution, 1801-1809 - 117 pages
Vol 2 - Tactical Changes in Response to Napoleon - 1810-1814 - 125 pages
Illustrations: 12 diagrams of maneuvers
$19.95 per volume, soft cover
An exhaustive study, drawn from period Russian regulations, eyewitness accounts, and official reports, as well as later documentation, this two volume work covers absolutely every aspect of the Russian system of war from 1792-1815. It explodes all the myths and misconceptions that have haunted the literature on the Russians and sets the record straight.

THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN ARMY
1763-1815
By George F. Nafziger
Size: 8.5" x 11"
Illustrations: no illustrations
$19.95 soft cover
Complete organizational history of the Imperial Russian army from 1763-1815. Provides history of internal structure, plus formation and disbandments of various units.
Vol 1 - Infantry, Mixed Units, Legions, Marines, Engineers, Pioneers, Sappers & Opolochenie
Vol 2 - Cavalry, Cossacks, Guard, and Artillery

THE CRESCENT AMONG THE EAGLES: OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND THE NAPOLEONIC WARS
By William Johnson
Size: 8.5" x 11"
Pages: 110 pages
$19.95 soft cover

I'll likely go back and update the page on the Ottoman Army I put together after I get through the Nafziger collection material. Otherwise I will just start reviewing them one at a time. Oh, I also have Hourtoulle books and Eltings Napoleonic Uniforms books if you are interested in those.

Austerlitz: The Empire at its Zenith by François Guy Hourtoulle

B348K8XQXEUP 
I have a fairy extensive library of Napoleonic military history books and I am slowly reviewing ones I like or need a decent review. In that vein here is a review of a book from Hourtoulle's collection originally done for Amazon.

Austerlitz: The Empire at its Zenith written by F.G. Hourtoulle and illustrated by Andre Jouineau is the fourth book in this very good series. The book gives the background and overview of the battle of Austerlitz. There are detailed maps, orders of battle, uniform and equipment illustrations, biographies and portraits of major actors. There is a detailed breakdown of the French army and its components but there is only the order of battle for the Russians and Austrians plus the numerous illustrations and their annotations.

Austerlitz is clearly aimed at military history enthusiasts and researchers as well as military modelling devotees. The focus of the book is detailed information covering the major actors and armies at Austerlitz as well as numerous colour plates showing the uniforms of many of the units that participated at Austerlitz.

F.G. Hourtoulle has written numerous books on the Napoleonic Wars for the publishing house Histoire et Collections. Andre Joineau did the majority of the infantry, cavalry, uniform and equipment plates; the originals can be found at the publishers Images de Soldats (the back of the book lists all the original sources for the uniform plates).

Hourtoulle has done exactly what he set out to do, and that is provide a comprehensive description of the battle of Austerlitz. The strength of the book lies in the amazing amount of research and its presentation. I especially like the numerous quotes from contemporary sources regarding the battle and its participants. However, the majority of the research is skewered towards the French army and its composition.

The maps are very good, I especially like the incorporation of contemporary representations such as Lejeune's panorama of the battle, suitably annotated. The order of battle information is likewise very good. There are numerous prints included from the author's collection, portraits of generals and major actors as well as small biographies of each as well.

The strength of the book lies in the research and its presentation of the battle itself and the participants. Although there are hundreds of colour plates of infantry, cavalry, their uniforms and equipment, this is not my favourite part of this book. I would much rather rely on other books that are specifically focussed on uniforms. However, if you are looking for one book on the battle of Austerlitz, the participants and the armies, you can not beat this fantastic volume.

As he been noted by other reviewers there is an issue with the plates on pp14-15 where the black has not been printed. This was the case in my copy as well. There are also numerous other small errors, most appear to be editing and formatting largely originating from the translation of the book from french to english. For such a phenomenal book and the very reasonable price it is very hard to complain, so I won't. It does seem petty to drop stars for such minor issues. It is hoped that these will be rectified in any later editions.

Flags!

I have been looking around at the different flag companies and sources and thought I would put them all here in one place. You could buy the Osprey books, scan, modify and print them. But why when you have so many good options on line. Hope you find it useful and if you have any comments on who to use please feel free to comment.

Warflags

Free flag website, scale to suit. I imagine everyone must know about this website. Like it says on the page if you can't find what you want herre look at Napflags below. There are instructions on how to scale and use the flag images.

France 1794 Pattern, France 1804 Pattern, France 1812 Pattern, French Line Fanions, French Young Guard Fanions, Prussia  (same as Seven Years War), Kleve-Berge, Austria, Denmark,Britain, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Westphalia, Baden, Russia, Switzerland, Nassau, Wurtzburg, Hesse- Darmstadt, 5th Rhine Conf' and early version of Hesse-Darmstadt, Mecklenberg, Wurttemberg,, Brunswick

Napflags

Free, scale flags to suit. A subsite of Warflags. They are more detailed than Warflags. So I guess whatever your taste runs to :)

The Empire of Austria, The Grand Duchy of Kleve Berg, The Grand Duchy of Baden, The Kingdom of Naples, The Kingdom of Bavaria, Netherlands, Batavian Republic, Kingdom of Holland, United Provinces, The Duchy of Brunswick, Poland, The Duchy of Warsaw, The Kingdom of Denmark, The Kingdom of Portugal, The Empire of France, The Kingdom of Prussia, Germany - The smaller states and principalities, The Empire of Russia, The Kingdom of Great Britain, The Kingdom of Saxony, The Electorate of Hannover, The Kingdom of Spain, The Landgraviate of Hesse Kassel, The Kingdom of Sweden, The Grand Duchy of Hesse Darmstat, The United States of America, The Kingdom of Italy, The Kingdom of Westfalia, The Kingdom of Wurttemburg

GMB Designs

A UK company with flags for 15mm figures. Online buying, a large selection. These flags look very nice! £3.25 for each pack, £4 for second battalion packs available on request.

French Armies 1804 to 1815
Russian Napoleonic Infantry  1797~1815
Russian Napoleonic Cavalry   1797~1815
British Napoleonic Infantry 1808~1815
British Napoleonic Cavalry
Hanoverian Infantry Regiments.  1813-15
Prussian Infantry & Cavalry  1813~1815
Austrian Napoleonic Infantry and Cavalry 1792 to 181                                                                                                                                                                          
Portuguese Napoleonic Infantry and Cavalry
Spanish Napoleonic Infantry and Cavalry
United Netherlands ( Dutch/Belgian ) 1815                                                                                                                                                                  
German States ( Nassau, Brunswick, Kleve-Berg, Wurttemburg & Hesse-Darmstadt )                                                                                                                                                          
Saxon Infantry 1811-15
Westphalian Napoleonic Infantry
Neapolitan Napoleonic Infantry  1809~1815                                                                                    
Italian Napoleonic Infantry 1808~1813
Bavarian Napoleonic Infantry
Duchy of Warsaw                                                                
Vistula Legion and Polish Napoleonic

Fighting 15s

UK company. These are stated as being specially designed for AB figures which presumably means that they are designed to be used with grand 15mm figures (18mm). Some people swear by them, they look pretty good! 9 flag sheets usually covering two or three regiments are £3.50. I really like the idea of the Orders of Battle pack.

Austria & Hungary
Britain
Brunswick
Confederation of the Rhine: Baden, Bavaria, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Saxony, Westphalia, Wurttemberg, Wurzburg.
France
Italy
Kingdom of Italy, Kingdom of Naples
Minor Countries: Holland, United Provinces, Hanover, Helvetian Republic, Switzerland.
Nordic Countries: Denmark, Sweden & Finland.
Poland
Portugal & Spain
Russia
Prussia
Orders of Battle: Albuera 1811, Fuentes de Onoro 1811.

Cotton Jim's Flags

US company. The flags are produced in 15mm, 25mm and 40mm scale. There is a huge range with over 700 flag sets, so I wont list all the countries. The flags sell for $3 per pack, they seem to usually have three regiments per pack with first and second battalion flags.

Flag Dude

An Alabama USA company. They have lots of photos to look at the flags in use. Much appreciated. Flags come in 15/20mm, 25mm, 40-54mm. 15/20mm flags are $4 each, plus $4 if you want them on cotton. That seems pretty steep. But they seem very approachable so drop them a line perhaps to ask about costs etc.

As they say on their website, to many countries to list so they broke them into three groups: British and Allies, French and Allies, Germans (Confederation of the Rhein, Swedes, and Russians).

Vaubanner Graphics

A Canadian company. The flags come in 6, 10, 15, 28mm (15 and 25mm by default, you need to ask if you want them smaller). The flags come in sets of 20 or 24 flags. The sets cost $8 each which seems quite cheap. These flags actually look pretty good, you can see some in their gallery.

15mm French Revolutionary Wars Austria
15mm Napoleonic Wars Austria
15mm Napoleonic Wars Great Britain (1801 pattern)
15mm Napoleonic Wars France (1804 Pattern)
15mm Napoleonic Wars Portugal (1806 pattern)
15mm Napoleonic Wars Prussia
15mm Napoleonic Wars Prussia (pre-1806 pattern)
15mm Prussian Infantry Regiments (1808-15 Pattern)
15mm Napoleonic Wars Russia
15mm Russian Guard & Line Infantry (1797 Pattern)
15mm Russian Guard & Line Infantry (1803 Pattern)
15mm Russian Cavalry Regiments (1803 Pattern)
15mm Napoleonic Wars Spain (1768 Pattern)
15mm Napoleonic Wars Sweden (1765-1815 Patterns)
15mm Napoleonic Wars Duchy of Warsaw

QRF Models
A Dorset, UK company. They have 15mm flags and quite a lot. The menu system is not the easiest to track down what they have under Napoleonics. They all seem to sell in sets of six flags at £2 each.

Old Photos

Here are some old photos I thought I would chuck up on the blog. Tell me what you think. All advice/criticism welcome!

A Dutch battalion

Tongue depressors as model holders. Haven't used them for ages. Thinking of using plastic bottle tops. Got plenty, saw it on someone's blog and thought that looks good.

 An old paint station. Designed to fit perfectly over an old couch that was very comfy.

 I used to undercoat in white. Now I use black. Not sure what I like best. I use Citadel spray paints for this.

 My paint box. Now far too small for my paints and thinking of getting a multi story tool box. I arrange them by shades.

 Some Prussians, ready to paint. They are still not finished. A project of my son's. I am going to finish them off and expand them for Lasalle and Blackpowder battles.

 Some of my fave books. I certainly feel very lucky to be able to have such a handy collection.

Illustrations, tables, maps

So here is a question: what do you want? I am thinking of making illustrations of uniforms, facings, accoutrement, etc for each nation. Are you interested in this? The wonders of the digital world make this very possible.

My second thought regards maps, I do a lot of mapping professionally and I could make some useful maps of the Napoleonic wars. Anyone interested in this? I could do battle and campaign maps as well. This is a big project but would be fun. What do you think? I could even make them interactive. That is not too much harder than a regular map.

Useful Pages

Histoire et Figurine
A very interesting site with a good deal of information. I really like the illustrations and colour charts.

War Times Journal
some rules and articles.

The Foundation Napoleon
A very cool site, heaps of information. Good portal to articles that may be of interest.

Napoleonic Titles and Heraldry
Long article, old school, on what it says.

Prussian Military History
A very good site with lots of prints, notably Richard Knotel. Its in German and google translate can only do so much to help find your way around the site. Worth the effort though.

Napoleonic Literature
Like it says, some free digital versions as well as a nice bibliography.

Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution
Want to get serious with your studies? Check out the Institute at Florida State University.

Military Heritage
Want to get your own uniform? Here's the place.

The Portuguese Army at the end of the Old Regime
Lots of info on the Portuguese army, specifically during the Napoleonic wars.

Useful Books

I am fortunate to have a nice sized library. However, there are some books I go back to again and again. This is a short list of books you may find useful as well. I really love digital editions as well and I wish these books were all available in a digital format.

The Napoleonic Source Book  by Philip J. Haythornthwaite
I love this book, it is jam packed with lots of very useful information for the military modeller. Sadly it is out of print but I am trying to track down who currently owns the rights to the book to see if it can be republished.

A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars by Vincent J. Esposito (Author), John R. Elting (Author)
Again, this book is out of print. Buying it second hand can be an expensive affair. But if you want a good overview with lots of fantastic maps you can't go wrong with this.

NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS: 2 Volume Boxed Set by John Elting and illustrations by Herbert Knotel
This is a 4 volume set that you can still pick up, 2 volumes form Amazon or similar and the others on the second hand market. There is simply no other sets like these to compare. They are absolutely beautiful, inside and out. The range of units covered is massive.

Soldiers and Uniforms of the Napleonic Wars by F. Hourtouille
I really love this book, interesting illustrations, some odd choices. You can see the full list of units in my review.
Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars by Digby Smith
Not my favourite book by a nice introduction covering lots of units with lots of plates. See my review here.
The Peninsular War Atlas (General Military) by Nick Lipscombe
Wow. This is a beautiful book, as the title suggests, focused on the Peninsula War.

The Campaigns of Napoleon

Osprey Publishing.

The major publishing house when it comes to military history. It is also very useful for military modellers. They also are starting to publish digital editions which I am about to try out. The quality can be a bit mixed, some of the titles need an update to incorporate new data as well as some titles that have poor illustrations. Look at reviews around the web and make your choices wisely.