ebooks The End of Empire: Napoleon's 1814 Campaign by George F. Nafziger in History

Review

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful. THE definitive account of the 1814 Invasion of FranceBy Michael J. FeinsteinGeorge Nafziger's "The End of Empire: Napoleon's 1814 Campaign" fills a critical void in Napoleonic military literature - a modern and comprehensive account of the Campaign of 1814. Consistent with his three-part history of the campaigns of 1813 in Germany; Nafziger has written an extremely detailed description (500 pages of text) of the battles; sieges and military movements of the French; Austrian; Russian and Prussian armies from December 1813 to April 1814. It covers operations from Belgium to Switzerland (but not the Wellington versus Soult campaign in SW France).The book is logically organized with chapters (generally chronological) covering specific regions and campaigns. Nafziger's writing style is very straightforward and informative. It does lack the flowing narrative and descriptive color of some other Napoleonic military authors (my favorites being James Arnold; John Gill and of course David Chandler); but he makes up for it with extraordinary detail. While I'm not a wargamer; I do appreciate the orders of battle and other bits of information throughout the book. There are numerous maps (both campaign and battle scale) and they are pretty well done for the most part. There are plenty of illustrations (mostly battle scenes and portraits) as well. It is true that there are a number of typos here and there; but I didn't find them particularly distracting.My only reason for not giving 5 stars to this otherwise excellent military history is the rather ordinary writing style (more like a newspaper than a novel). That said; Nafziger's writing is still on par with most Napoleonic writers and his scope of coverage is unequaled. "End of Empire" is so filled with detail and information that it is still a "must have" for readers of Napoleonic history.7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Finally a book that really covers the battlesBy THOMAS E. BOOKWALTERNapoleon’s 1814 campaign in France has fascinated me for decades. Unfortunately; there has been very little on it in the English language that went into any tactical detail. George Nafziger has now filled that virtual void.This book brings many battles to life. Instead of a few short paragraphs; these battle have pages devoted to them. In the past; my experience with reading on this campaign has been so heavily on the strategic level that it would become boring; reading about who marched where; but not any detailed battle accounts of what happened when they got there. This book covers the major battles (and some minor ones) in more detail than I have seen elsewhere in English.In this campaign; more than any other; the Imperial Guard; Old; Middle and Young were in the thick of it. Their exploits are well covered in End of Empire.Both students of military history and wargamers should find this book of great interest. Oftentimes the detail goes down to the battalion level. The battlefield maps are excellent for wargamers as there is enough detail to reproduce the key features on your table; but not so much that they are overwhelming or cluttered.The orders of battle; both as appendices and those within the text; are a wealth of knowledge in themselves.If a reader has an interest in this campaign; this book is essential. Admittedly; as mentioned before this review; there are a number of errors that could have and should have been corrected. Only due to those errors; did I not give the book five stars. However; taken as a whole; the book is still magnificent and I know of nothing that can come close to equaling it on this subject.7 of 9 people found the following review helpful. The Grand Tactical Historian/Wargamers bibleBy Warwick LouthWowWhat can I say? A book that could challenge/be put alongside Chandler’s “The Campaigns of Napoleon? Nafziger has done this. In military history circles it is claimed Napoleon’s 1814 campaign was among his finest-the tactical: logistical ratio constantly being balanced has obvious conotations with the end of the Second World War in Germany-yet it is interesting that this has been addressed so little in the English language or indeed by previous publications. A cobbled together army; marshals deserting or trading position left right and centre; it should have been a foregone conclusion and yet Allied staff incompetence came to the fore yet again. Populist argument tends to have the central European war end at Leipzig; reintroduced with Wellington’s invasion of France and Toulouse. This book is revisionist in its outlook for taking the challenge of taking on such a less supported theatre and breaking it down into its strategic components. For the grand tactical wargamer; military student and military historian it has all the detail you will ever need to inhabit or understand the turnings; events and nature of these battles. Fully annotated orders of battle mean we never have to assume unit sizes and positions again. Something to be kept next to the wargames table for those new scenarios perhaps?Criticisms:The occasional mistake or confusion might pop in referring to individual positioning of movements or corps-the book is not meant as button counters bible to this campaign-Nafziger approaches the work as a grand tactical; statistical account; rather than a heads down analysis of that is going to get every statistical positioning correct. Future editions of this work may well correct them; it is not for me to judge. I would also argue; while there is a plethora of maps; my one criticism is their half page layout; which can prove slightly difficult to follow. It could be worse; there could be no maps at all; but just that added edge. Americanism's crop in-it was written by an American; the meaning of the subject is not lost; such phonetical mistakes can be overlooked; just as much as the occasional substitution of a meaning of one word for another; making an odd sentence; will likely creep in-it is a 700 page book.Overall a revisionist title; for those who like to know the full details of grand tactical logistics; organisation and movement; with well researched lists and statistics; this addresses an oft forgotten campaign with the treatment it deserves. The ability to ere my eye away from the current project on the painting desk; to the distant columns of a French Corps de Battaile shows that the book certainly has the desired effect. Highly recommended