The armies of the Napoleonic Wars fought in a series of devastating campaigns that disturbed the peace of Europe for twelve years, yet the composition, organization and fighting efficiency of these forces receive too little attention. Each force tends to be examined in isolation or in the context of an individual battle or campaign or as the instrument of a famous commander. Rarely have these armies been studied together in a single volume as they are in this authoritative and fascinating reassessment edited by Gregory Fremont-Barnes.

Leading experts on the Napoleonic Wars have been specially commissioned to produce chapters on each of the armed forces that took part in this momentous era in European history. The result is a vivid comparative portrait of ten of the most significant armies of the period, and of military service and warfare in the early nineteenth century. The book will be essential reading and reference for all students of the Napoleonic era.

Covers the armies of Austria, Britain, the Confederation of the Rhine, the Duchy of Warsaw, France, the Kingdom of Italy, Portugal, Prussia, Russia and Spain.

Editor Gregory Fremont-Barnes has an established reputation as an authority on nineteenth-century military and naval history. He was the editor of The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Revolutions and New Ideologies 1760-1815. His many other books include The Indian Mutiny 1857-58, The Wars of the Barbary Pirates, Trafalgar 1805, Nelson’s Sailors, The Boer War 1899-1902, The Peninsular War 1807-14, The Fall of the French Empire 1813-14 and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Contributors
Jaroslaw Czubaty, Charles Esdaile, Gregory Fremont-Barnes, John Gill, David Hollins, Alexander Mikaberidze, Malyn Newitt, Oliver Schmidt and Frederick Schneid