Jean-Nicholas-Auguste Nol, an artillery officer in Napoleon’s army, was 18
years old in 1796 when he was appointed second lieutenant in the 8th Regiment
of Horse Artillery. He served Napoleon for 20 years. This memoir, based on
Nol’s war-time journals, was written in 1850 and originally published in
1895 by Berger-Levrault. It details Nol’s career within the context of the
fate of Napoleon’s empire. B&w historical illustrations are included. The book
was previously published in 2005 by Greenhill Books.

Protoview

In 1795, the year in which Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French army in Italy, the 17 year old Jean-Nicholas-August Noël entered the artillery school at Châlons. A year later Noël was appointed second lieutenant in the 8th Horse Artillery.

This book, first published in 2005 and now again in 2016, is his memoir of two decades in the service of the Emperor. Napoleon transformed the role of artillery from a cumbersome and tactically limited force into an independent and highly mobile arm. From the optimism of the early years in Italy, through to the retreat from Moscow, the battle of Leipzig on to the disillusionment of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, the author charts both his personal career and the rise and fall of the First Empire.

In all there are 13 monochrome illustrations supporting the text, along with two maps and an index.

Stuart Asquith, Author