Author: Chandler,  D.G. Published: 1994 Publisher: Greenhill Press, London Pages: 270 The  latest of Chandler's prolific pen, this work is, to  use  Chandler's own words, a collection of "random jottings" produced over  the many  years  of his career teaching military history. I  am  of  the understanding that such published collections of miscellaneous writings were  much  the way of earlier English authors, marking as  often  as not,  their retirement from the active literary world. I hope  this  is not the case in this instance. The work begins with an introduction that is, in fact, an autobiography  of the author. What follows is a collection of sixteen  short essays,  most of which are unrelated to the others. There is, as  a result, no particular overall theme to this book. The  introduction is both enlightening and confusing.  That  is, confusing  to  an American uninformed of the English  school  system. After  nine  pages discussing his elementary, secondary,  and  college education  Chandler then discusses his miltiary career in  Nigeria  as part  of the RAEC (Royal Army Education Corps). That blends  into  a fifteen  page  discussion of his teaching and literary  career.  This ties  nicely into his picture on the back of the dust jacket  in  his academic robes, a second picture of him as a Lieutenant on the inside of  the dust jacket, and a picture of his 1991 diploma (I assume)  from the University of Oxford as a Doctor of Letters. At the back of the book  is an impressive half page listing of his academic  achievements and scholarly honors, a summary of his teaching career and his audio-visual  credits.  This is followed by a four page listing of  his  27 books  and approximately two pages of published "chapters" and  articles. The essays presented in this work are: The Origins of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars - 17 pgs The Reconquest of Egypt: the British View - 9 pgs The Egyptian Campaign of 1801 - 17 pgs Adjusting the Record: Napoleon and Marengo - 17 pgs The Napoleonic Marshalate - 16 pgs Napoleon's Masterpiece: Austerlitz, 2 December 1805 - 14 pgs Column versus Line: the Case of Maida, 1806 - 15 pgs The Battle of Shagagun, 1808 - 10 pgs Welington in the Peninsula: a Reassessment - 11 pgs Wellington and the Guerillas - 15 pgs The Russian Army at War, 1807 and 1812 - 11 pgs Borodino: 1812 - 13 pgs Retreat from Moscow - 9 pgs An Undergroom at War: Edward Healey, 1815 - 16 pgs How Wars are Decided: Napoleon - the Fall of a Giant? - 16 pgs Napoleon: Classical Military Theory and the Jominian Legacy By  their size they appear to be the type of paper often  presented at academic symposiums, and indeed some were. They are  written in the high literary style of turn of the century British authors, frequently dotted with French phrases, in lieu of the earlier authors' practice of inserting Latin phrases. Though scholary in nature, their length  condemns them to a superficial review of the typic  at  hand. None  of the essays are footnoted. Five years ago Dr. H. Parker  of Duke University spared no effort to convince me that footnotes  were the litmus test of scholarly literature. I must assume that they were removed  from the essays prior to their publication, which causes  me to  wonder if anything else was edited out. There is a  "bibliography by  chapter," which is more of a discussion of sources than a  state ment that these are the sources consulted. That  this work is by an Englishman and written for  other  Englishmen  became  obvious  as I began reading  the  various  essays. Continued references to "regicide France" and an almost equal number of references to the "genius of the British people" leave little doubt. Indeed,  at  times one would think that the  British  participation  in these wars was the focal point of the wars. I  do not have room to comment on all of his essays, so  I  will limit comment to a few. His second essay, the British reconquest  of Egypt, is a brief description the British victory over a failing French opponent. It is a reasonable, abet short review of the campaign which should to whet the appetite of someone new to the campaign to pursue further readings on the topic. The  fourth essay on Marengo is a most enlightening  discussion of Napoleon's revision of the history of this famous battle. He cites the  existance of a copy of the original staff report, which  escaped Napoleon's  ordered  destruction. I would dearly love  to  see  this document. Unfortunately, after noting its existance, he fails to  say where  it is located. Based on his comments it would have been  very useful in my recent article on Marengo. The fifth essay is a nice, thumbnail sketch of Napoleon's gang of cronies,  devoid  of Francophobia or Francophilia.  It's  an  excellent introduction  to Napoleon's marshals. The seventh essay is on  Maida, though it devotes little time to discussing the battle. It is more of an apologia by a gentleman of the first order for an earlier error in assuming that Oman's theory on column versus line was correct. The  eight essay, the battle of Sahagun is interesting as  well, though  I do not agree with its conclusion. Chandler says that  this battle "... proved that, man for man, the British cavarly was in  every way  more  than a match for the French mounted arm."  Then  as  he discusses  the battle he states that the British cavalry struck  and broke a provisional regiment of "Hanoverians absorbed into the French Army  of Spain" that stood and attempted to receive the charge  with fire from their carbines. This regiment was then pushed into a French dragoon  regiment  standing behind it, disordering the  dragoons,  and forcing  them to break as well. Last time I checked,  the  legitimate ruler  of Hanover was the King of England, besides  Hanoverians  are ethnic Germans. How this proves that British cavarly was superior to French  cavalry  is a mystery to me, though I agree  with  his  basic premise. The  fifteenth  and  last essay is unusual. It  begins  with  a discussion of a heated, published exchange between Dr. Chandler and an unnamed  Frenchman  who took issue with something Dr.  Chandler  had written. This exchange was particularly interesting to me in that  it appears  he, like myself, does not suffer fools gladly and has  little compunction about setting the record straight. N'est pas M. Perdreau? As  for an overall recommendation for this work, I would say  it is well worth the effort for someone seeking a quick introduction  to the  various  topics  it covers. Because of the  shortness  of  the essays,  however, it's appeal will be limited amongst those  who  have already  read  his masterpiece, The Campaigns of Napoleon  or  other similar works. More Book Reviews Military Life Under Napoleon: The Memoirs of Captain Elzear Blaze The Waterloo Campaign Napoleon: An Intimate Account of the Years of Supremacy On the Napoleonic Wars Rod of Iron, French Counterinsurgency Policy in Aragon during  the  Peninsular War Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 13 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Emperor's Headquarters 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