In a stunning collection of ninety-one colour plates, Napoleon's Elite Cavalry captures the spirit of the Imperial Guard cavalry and their role on the Napoleonic battlefield. The book, a remarkable publishing achievement, brings together, for the very first time, ninety-one colour plates by the celebrated French artist Lucien Rousselot. The superb plates convey the splendour of these elite shock troops and present their lavish uniforms in serene and colourful glory. The plates, now housed in the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, were specially commissioned by Mrs Brown and have never been published before (with the exception of three plates reproduced in The Anatomy of Glory). Napoleon's Elite Cavalry is a special format book (358 x 252mm) printed on art paper and is replete with coloured endpapers and head and tail bands. Carefully researched from primary sources – including official documents and surviving uniforms – and superbly executed by a renowned military artist, the plates illustrate Napoleon's key Guard cavalry units: – the Dragons de I'Impératrice (25 plates) – the Chasseurs à cheval (27 plates) – the Chevau-légers Polonais (25 plates) – the Grenadiers à cheval (13 plates) – plus a vivid picture of Napoleon, wearing a Chasseur uniform Lucid accompanying texts by Edward Ryan provide information on the Guard regiments' uniforms and battles, and an Introduction charts the origins and development of the Guard cavalry. In addition, detailed appendices record the lives and deeds of Guard officers – such as Nansouty, Arrighi, Sebastiani, Lepic and Krasinski – and list the Imperial Guard's other cavalry regiments and units. Lucien Rousselot was an exceptionally gifted artist of military subjects, and a dedicated researcher and recognised authority on the uniforms of the French Army. In 1943 he began his celebrated series of folio plates – L'Armée Française – and, throughout his lifetime, contributed to numerous journals and publications. He died in 1992. Edward Ryan served as as a naval officer in World War II, and, subsequently, worked as a civil servant. His book Paper Soldiers: The Illustrated History of Printed Paper Armies of the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries is considered the definitive work on the subject. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 92 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Greenhill Books 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