Books on the Napoleonic era including the history about Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon's armies, Napoleons battles and the Duke of Wellington (his greatest adversary).

Click here to use our secure order form

From Coruna to Sebastopol : The History of C Battery, A Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery.

A unit history of a Royal Artillery Battery formed in the 1790s down to its service at the Siege of Sebastopol during the Crimean War. The author begins his particular history with a useful general survey of the development of artillery from its invention around 1320 until the French revolutionary wars. C Troop, later C Battery, accompanied Sir John Moore to Spain in 1808 and took part in the retreat to and battle of Corunna. Returning to Spain, the unit was present at the battles of Albuera and Fuentes dOnoro and was present in the final action of the war, the battle of Toulouse. As C battery, the unit was sent to the Crimea, taking part in the battles of the Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman. After participating in the lengthy Siege of Sebastopol the unit saw service in India. Accompanied by several appendices giving battery muster rolls, lists of officers etc.

Illustrated paperback with 308 pages.

Order code NMP5973. Book price £18.00.

French Revolutionary Infantry 1789 - 1802 by Terry Crowdy.

The years immediately following the French Revolution of 1789 saw an extraordinary transformation of the French army.  From a distrusted instrument of the feudal power of the king and nobility, it became the symbol of liberty and citizenship.  The transition was complex and painful, as the remnants of the old professional army were joined by a flood of civilian volunteers and conscripts, of whom even the best were short of everything except republican fervour.  This book describes the stages of the rebirth that produced an army capable of bating off half the monarchies of Europe, thus laying the foundations for Napoleons unique victories ten years later.

Part of the Osprey Men at Arms Series.  Illustrated paperback with approximately 50 pages.

Order code MA403. Book price £8.99.

Wellingtons Peninsula Regiments (2) The Light Infantry by Mike Chappell.

The forces which Wellington led in Portugal and Spain and up into southern France between 1808 and 1814 achieved a record of victory perhaps unmatched in the history of the British Army.  Among his infantry the regiments of the Light Division were self-consciously an elite, trained to fight with initiative and independence on the exposed edges of the marching army.  This book explains their evolution and tactics, details the campaigns and illustrates the uniforms and equipment of the Light Infantry regiments: the 43rd (Monmouthshire), 52nd (Oxfordshire), 51st (2nd Yorkshire), 68th (Durham) and 85th (Bucks Volunteers).

Part of the Osprey Men at Arms Series.  Illustrated paperback with approximately 50 pages.

Order code MA400. Book price £8.99.

Napoleons Red Lancers by Ronald Pawly.

The legendary Dutch Red Lancers - the 2nd Light Horse Lancers of Napoleons Imperial Guard - were formed in 1810 after the emperor annexed Holland to France.  The former Royal Guard hussars got a new uniform, a new weapon, and a hard-driving new colonel in Baron Edouard Colbert.  His lancers distinguished themselves in Russia in 1812, at huge cost; in Germany in 1813, and in the Low Countries in 1814.  When Napoleon returned from exile the Red Lancers were with him until night fell over Waterloo.  Robert Pawly is the worlds leading expert on the regiment; his text is illustrated with rare portraits and photographs, and specially commissioned colour artwork.  

Part of the Osprey Men at Arms Series.  Illustrated paperback with approximately 50 pages.

Order code MA389. Book price £8.99.

A History of the Peninsular War - Volume III.  The Biographical Dictionary of British Officers Killed and Wounded, 1808 - 1814.  by John A Hall

Published Price £35

SPECIAL PRICE £25

  Book serial number BK3153. 

Hardback book with 640 pages.

To order your copy: secure order form

This complementary volume to Sir Charles Oman's monumental study of the Peninsular War is a comprehensive biographical dictionary of more than 3,000 officers in British, Portuguese and Spanish service killed or wounded in the seven years of that remarkable campaign.  Based on exhaustive research of primary records and archives, this superbly detailed reference book draws on data from service records, official despatches, casualty rolls, medal lists, the London Gazette and additional original sources to provide an astonishing insight into the history of the British Army from the point of view of the individual.  Serving as a who's who for British officers, and French and German officers in British pay, this book is an essential addition to Peninsular War scholarship.  Entries on this casualty roll include the service histories of individual officers, medals or awards received, the place, date and cause of death or nature of wound, any subsequent career details and additional campaign material.  Many entries include eyewitness accounts about the particular officer, taken from memoirs, diaries and despatches of the period, making this not only a vital source of information but also a very readable and human study.  A regimental index provides an overview of which British units participated in the war - from the famous 95th and 52nd to the Royal Marines, the Chasseurs Britanniques and the Sicilian Regiment - and the number of casualties incurred by any given regiment.  An additional appendix lists those officers who died of disease, misadventure, natural causes or accident in the course of the war.  Dr John A Hall was a history professor at Michigan University for ten years and is the author of numerous articles on military history

Post: UK- £5.00 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £10.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Rest of World £12.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Napoleon - His Wives and Women by Christopher Hibbert

Book Price £25. Book serial number BK9738. 

Hardback book illustrated with 380 pages.

To order your copy: secure order form

'Bah! Women!' Napoleon declared one day during his exile on the remote island of St Helena.  'When you don't think of them you don't need them'

In this absorbing and original book, Christopher Hibbert investigates the sincerity of this misogynistic exclamation and presents an aspect of Napoleon both unusual and revealing.  He throws fresh light on his relationships with the women in his family - his resourceful and strong-willed mother and his three sisters: Caroline, who became Queen of Naples, the beautiful and sensual Pauline, Princess Borghese, and the bossy Elisa whom he created Grand Duchess of Tuscany.  Equally illuminating are the author's accounts of the two women who he married and successively crowned Empress: Josephine, the charming and wildly extravagant Creole from the West Indian island of Martinique, who had been imprisoned during the revolutionary Terror, and Marie-Louise, the Austrian Emperor's daughter, who gave birth to Napoleon's unfortunate heir, the King of Rome.

The book also records the parts played by the many mistresses in Napoleon's life.  Notorious for his rudeness to the ladies of his court and for his habit of pinching their cheeks or noses, he would complain to their faces how plain or ill-dressed they were, telling one that he had heard that she was 'quick and good in bed'.  From his wife he would brook no complaint about his sexual escapades.  'I am not like other men', he said. 'The commonly accepted rules of morality and propriety do not apply to me.'

Prussian Cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars (I) 1792-1807 by Peter Hofschröer & Bryan Fosten

Book price £8.99. Book serial number Osprey MA162.

Prussian Line Infantry 1792-1815 by Peter Hofschroer & Bryan Fosten

Book price £8.99. Book serial number Osprey MA152.

Post unless otherwise stated is as follows:

Post UK- £3 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £5.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Rest of World £8.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Flags of the Napoleonic Wars (1) by Terence Wise & Guido Rosignoli

Book price £8.99. Book serial number Osprey MA77.

The Fall of Napoleon : The Final Betrayal by David Hamilton-Williams

Book serial number BK43. Price £15.99. Fully illustrated hard back with 352 pages.

Post: UK- £4.00 (max post for multiple books £5.00).

For Europe £6.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Rest of World £8.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

The Peninsula War by Roger Parkinson.

The Peninsula War was a war of contrasts; a war fought in the icy passes of the high Pyrenees and on the burning wastes of the Sierra Morena; a war of infinite cruelty yet remarkable courtesy; a war in which debonair British officers fought alongside ragged Spanish partisans.

It began in 1808 with Napoleon at the height of his power, and ended with his attempted suicide in 1814 - he called it his Spanish ulcer. In a series of savagely fought battles - Cuidad, Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca and Vittoria - Wellingtons scum (the French opinion of his army) avenged Corunna and swept Spain clean of Frances finest troops.

Roger Parkinsons narrative vividly recaptures the horror, excitement and drudgery of historys first guerilla war. The books many superb illustrations ably complement the stirring text.

Illustrated paperback with 208 pages.

Book serial number W1. Price £9.99.

Bonaparte by Correlli Barnett.

Correlli Barnetts brilliant study of Napoleon Bonaparte dispels several of the myths surrounding this greatest figure of his age. Born in Corsica, Napoleon was never truly a Frenchman, in the same way that Hitler was never a true German. Like Hitler, he was a demagogic politician on the make, and his generalship was frequently slapdash and lucky.

Bonapart presents a powerful, original and convincing portrait of its subject, both as a politician and as a commander in the field. The narrative is masterly in detail, vigorous in style, surprising in its judgements and compellingly interesting and exciting to read.

Illustrated paperback with 224 pages.

Book serial number W34. Price £8.99.

Napoleon's Marshals edited by David Chandler

Few military careers, individually or collectively, have rivalled the drama - the opportunities proffered or the penalties incurred - of the twenty-six senior officers who in due course formed the Napoleonic Marshalate. The men concerned came from every strata of French society (although of course there was a single Pole).

The reasons that led to individuals being selected by the Emperor Napoleon I for this distinction were complex. A reputation for courage in action and perseverance on campaign figured high amongst the qualities desired, but internal army politics played as great a part as proven ability in high command.

The favoured eighteen of the original promotion of August 1804 and the eight appointed later were very much a mixed bag. Glory-seekers, feuders, barely disguised (if at all) looters on the grand scale - they left there mark on the early 19th century which saw their exploits. Some were cultivated men; others the very reverse. Two would become kings and several received princedoms - including Marshal Andre Massena, whose descendant - Victor Massena, Prince of Essling - has provided the foreword. Almost all received vast grants of land and sums of money from the Emperor. On the other hand, three would die from wounds received in action; five more would meet violent deaths, and all, without exception, suffered the strains of seemingly perpetual warfare, involving (for many) periods of disgrace and, after Waterloo, persecution.

Centre stage from 1804-1815 was the towering genius of the Emperor Napoleon - a hard master who spared neither his chosen commanders nor himself, and deliberately distanced himself from them - employing the methods of personal charisma and 'divide and rule' to keep them in some order.

To write this book, David Chandler assembled an outstanding team of scholarly contributors. The individual careers have perhaps never been told with greater verve and accuracy than in this remarkable book, which complements Chandler's own study of over 30 years standing, The Campaigns of Napoleon. Here are the careers of the key French military commanders of those long and bitterly-fought wars, each one illustrated by an analysis of one battle, engagement or campaign that figured significantly - for better or worse- in their individual stories, and in that of the dramatic period of modern history known as the Napoleonic Wars.

Illustrated hardback book with 560 pages. Book serial number BK53. Price £30. 

Post: UK- £6.00 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £10.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Rest of World £14.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Napoleon's Marshals by Emir Bukhari & Chris Warner

Book price £8.99. Book serial number Osprey MA87.

Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars by David Chandler.

The military campaigns of Napoleon form one of the most significant episodes of modern world history. The Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars is a complete, concise reference work which covers all the warring nations, their important soldiers, sailors, strategies, armaments and the battles that shaped Napoleons career.

The book includes much fascinating material - the brilliant campaigns that Napoleon himself commanded, as well as related events such as the Peninsula War and the American War of 1812. There are portraits of hundreds of noteworthy characters, and to overcome the tendency of a dictionary to fragment its subject, the author has included large-scale entries on topics of general importance from Coalitions and Coups dEtat to the French Revolution and the Duke of Wellington.

Illustrated paperback with 570 pages.

Book serial number W10. Price £9.99.