The Military Maxims of Napoleon
Book Review:
reviewed by Paul Chamberlain, UK
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by David G Chandler The Military Maxims of Napoleon is a collection of 78 maxims published originally in 1901, and this book is a reprint of the 1987 edition compiled by David Chandler. It is not clear who first selected these great sayings of Napoleon, or when exactly. The introduction discusses this complicated sourcing and examines the influence that Napoleon's words have had on people since 1821, including an account of who has published his maxims over the last 180 years. The introduction to the 1901 edition was by William E. Cairnes who tried to analyse the maxims in the light of recent conflicts, that is, up to the Boer War. He attempted to discover if any recent generals had taken heed of them. Napoleon had opinions on every aspect of war, of which he was an undoubted master. His selected maxims cover the dangers of retreat, lines of communication, enterprise and bravery, infantry formations, horse artillery, death or victory, to name but a few. In the original edition, each maxim was annotated to explain the reasoning behind it and it's application, with historical examples. David Chandler has expanded on these to explain further their relevance to modern warfare, and this discussion enhances the words of the Emperor. The Military Maxims of Napoleon plus the explanatory annotations by both Cairnes and Chandler give abroad insight into the art of war, as practiced by one of history's masters. An interesting little book for students of warfare. Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire # 72 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com |