Gosling Press, 35 Cross Street, Upton, Pontefract, WF9 1EU 104pp, maps, glazed card covers. £5.95 Shoberl's narrative was originally published in London in late 1813 and in the following year came a second edition which is the one republished here by Gosling Press. Shoberl was present in Leipzig throughout the course of the battle, of the events leading up to it and most interestingly, the immediate aftermath of the French defeat. To be fair there is nothing new here concerning the actual tactical and strategic manoeuvres, indeed Shoberl's account of the fighting is almost entirely second-hand and derived from the tales of the wounded, prisoners or refugees but it is also in this that the interest of this account lies. Unusually what we have here is the account of the battle as it appeared to those watching who were not privilege to the councils of the Imperial Staff - indeed much of what Shoberl relates must have been how many of the combatants saw the battle, confusion, chaos and a series of unreconcilable stories and rumours. The whole text is a fascinating aspect of an already well covered campaign and battle. One aspect of the 'Narrative' which I found most interesting was Shoberl's eyewitness viewpoint of the actions of the Allies immediately after the retreat of the French - the Assault of the Laity of Leipzig itself. This was one incident of the battle of which I had rarely heard and never really considered. A second unusual and unique perspective of Shoberl's writing is the effect that a major Army had (has ?) on the Trade of a City and on the available provisions. So often modern accounts refer to this or that Army "stripping the countryside bare of provisions" but here we encounter the same in more human terms, Shoberl tells us of the plundered peasant and the ruined innkeeper with a vibrancy that brings the events to life and perhaps it is in this interaction of the military with the civilian that the great value of Shoberl's narrative lies. The text is 'complemented' (?) with three maps to illustrate the campaign and battle but although these are part of Shoberl's original 1814 publication they are neither clear nor do they greatly enhance the text - I would have preferred to have seen them replaced with clearer modern maps as some maps are certainly necessary to be able to follow Shoberl's account of the manoeuvring and actions of the Armies prior to and during those momentous four days. This is an unusual account and would make a welcome addition to almost any Napoleonic enthusiast's library - it should most definitely be read by all those who usually consider only 'La Gloire' of Napoleon's campaigns. It is a pity however that 'Narrative' is spelt as 'Narative' on the cover! Nonetheless I would thoroughly recommend the book. Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #15 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com