Henri Lachouque (trans. A.S.K.Brown) reprinted by Greenhill
Greenhill Books produce a never-ending stream of reprints and wargamers-as-historians, but their reprinting of this splendid volume raises their game several notchs. I first read this book in 1964 and was entranced by its illustrations. It was at that time (for a 12 year old) prohibitively expensive, but now it is not! The prints have come out splendidly and it is for these that you should buy this volume. The range and interest of them is immense, these are not just uniform plates there are a lot of "real" troops in "real" uniforms.
The text is the usual old rubbish from the Commandant - more than a man in victory, less than a woman in defeat. The details of the officers and men and unit formations (which were condensed by Mrs Brown) are, I am sure, well documented. What sticks in the craw is the vapid chauvinism and worship of this tyrannical homocule. But then if you are French and interested in things military the table's a little bit bare (he sneered loftily). That the new edition should have an introduction from Colonel Elting is very appropriate, since he embodies the appeal of this Gallifet-military fascism to the USA.
Despite the Commandant's desperate special pleading an accurate picture of a fascinating and selfish man emerges blessed with the usual mixture of clarity of vision and astonishing stupidity (or was it bad judgement of his fellow men). Napoleon was not (as our crapaud chum maintains) a "universal genius" but he certainly knew what makes the French tick. The illustrations show you his real genius. It is with such baubles than men are won.
More Book Corner:
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Hot Blood & Cold Steel
The Rules of the Game
Philip II
Importing the European Army
War and Society in early Modern Europe 1495-1715
First Punic War
Warfare in the Latin East 1192-1291
Spanish Naval Power 1589 to 1665
The Anatomy of Glory
The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading
The Kaiser
Time to Kill
First World War
The Military Revolution Debate
Pallas Armata titles
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© Copyright 1997 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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