This is the first comprehensive studyof Gerhard Scharnhorst in any language. Other than the author's The Enlightened Soldier: Scharnhorst and the Militarische Gesellschaft in Berlin, 1801-1805 (1989), there exists no other work on Scharnhorst in English. Of the major German works, Das Leben des Generals von Scharnhorst (1869/71), written by Hanoverian historian Georg Heinrich Klippel,was a popular biography with no critical analysis. In keeping with the political correctness of his time, Klippel failed to include a single document from Scharnhorst's voluminous papers that was disparaging toward the social, political, and military cultures in Hanover. Seventeen years later, Prussian historian Max Lehmann published his study of Scharnhorst (1886/87), which corrected many of the flaws in Klippel's work, but failed to provide any critical analysis of Scharnhorst's modernization, especially as it applied to Prussia. Like Klippel, Lehmann complied with the political correctness of his time in Prussia and Germany. Rudolf Stadelmann, Scharnhorst: Schicksal und Geistige Welt (1952), is an incomplete fragment that offers some interesting insights. Scharnhorst: The Formative Years uses the previous German studies as a starting point to present many unpublished discoveries about his youth, his education and training, his extensive service in Hanover, and the modernization program Scharnhorst sought to implement in Hanover, and later realized in part in Prussia.

This book was written to provide an in-depth study of the Danish and Norwegian armies of the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was to provide a working document which is as accurate as possible, covering the uniforms of these armies, their weapons and their evolution as well as their colours and a look at their basic tactics. Although this is principally a uniform book, historical background is also provided to place the details in their context. This second volume looks in depth at the regular cavalry and field artillery covering all aspects, organisation, uniforms, arms and equipment, in particular cannon, limbers, and wagons, with 54 original full colour plates. The fortress and coastal artillery are not forgotten, as with one of the longest coastlines in Europe compared to the size of the country it was more important than in most countries. Unlike the few other works in English this book has been conducted with the assistance of respected Danish historians, as well as Norwegian and German historians.

When Denmark introduced compulsory education in 1814, the city of Copenhagen responsed by regulating the already existing private school system. Roughly half of the school age population went to some kind of school and of those the overwelming majority attended private schools, most of which were run by women. The book tells the story of these women, their schools and pupils on the 150 private schools from 1790-1820. Carol Gold's contention is that these private schools and their teachers were much better than is presently assumed in Danish historiography. The teachers were all literate; they could read and most of them could write. The education provided for girls ranged from the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic plus needlework in the beginner schools, to the "scientific" subjects of history, geography, natural sciences and foreign languages in the more advanced academies. Furthermore, the schools formed the basis of the Copenhagen school system which was established at the b

Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) is best known for his masterpiece of military theory On War, yet that work formed only the first three of his ten-volume published writings. The others, historical analyses of the wars that roiled Europe from 1789 through 1815, informed and shaped Clausewitz's military thought, so they offer invaluable insight into his dialectical, often difficult theoretical masterwork. Among these historical works, one of the most important is Der Feldzug von 1799 in Italien und der Schweiz, which covers an important phase of the French Revolutionary Wars. The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns focuses mainly on the campaigns in Switzerland, where the cracks that finally fractured the alliance between Russia and Austria and led to the defeat of the Second Coalition first opened. Moving from strategy to battle scene to analysis, this first English translation of volume 6 of Clausewitz's collected works nimbly conveys the character of Clausewitz's writing in all its registers: the brisk, often powerful description of events as they unfolded and the critical reflections on strategic theory and its implications. The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns features Suvorov's astonishing march through the St. Gotthard Pass and major actions such as the Second Battle of Zurich and the Battle of Mannheim. The nature of the campaign highlighted the contrast between the opposing armies' different strengths and weaknesses and the problems of fighting as part of a coalition. This book will expand readers' experience and understanding of not only this critical moment in European history but also the thought and writings of the modern master of military philosophy.

The Napoleonic Wars have an important place in the history of Europe, leaving their mark on European and world societies in a variety of ways. In many European countries they provided the stimulus for radical social and political change - particularly in Spain, Germany, and Italy - and are frequently viewed in these places as the starting point of their modern histories. In this Very Short Introduction, Mike Rapport provides a brief outline of the wars, introducing the tactics, strategies, and weaponry of the time. Presented in three parts, he considers the origins and course of the wars, the ways and means in which it was fought, and the social and political legacy it has left to the world today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

William Brown's autobiography is a unique historical document, since he is the only memoirist to have come to light from the ranks of the 45th (1st Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot for the period of the Peninsula War - a regiment that was one of Wellington's longest-serving and most valiant in that turbulent era, a proud member of Sir Thomas Picton's 'Fighting' Third Division. William was born in Kilmarnock in 1788, the son of a poor cobbler, but seems to have been given a good education since the narrative is clear and lively, with many learned literary references. Like many young men, William Brown originally volunteered into the militia, Britain's second-line army intended for home defence only. And like a goodly percentage of these young men, he found that the life more-or-less agreed with him, and willingly took the bounty on offer to volunteer into the regular army a few weeks after Wellington's victory at Talavera. In the next five years he served at Busaco, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Madrid, Vittoria, Orthez, and Toulouse, and his descriptions of these actions provide worthy additions to our knowledge of these great battles. William seems to have been generally a reliable soldier, often 'on command' doing ancillary regimental service involving a degree of trust, including service as an officer's batman. His outrage at the antics of his fellow-soldiers in the sack of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz is palpable. Nonetheless, he occasionally seems to have slipped into questionable behaviour and comes across in the text as a bit of a 'likeable rogue'. His romantic pursuits also get plenty of coverage in the text. William's pen-portraits of commanders such as Picton, Kempt, Pakenham, and Brisbane are revealing, and he was not slow in criticising his senior battalion officers or their actions; nor indeed is the Duke of Wellington above William's barbed criticism. Maps are provided to allow the reader to understand the route travelled within Portugal and Spain by William and the 45th Regiment in those turbulent years, and the whole text is annotated by historian Steve Brown, an expert on the 45th and its deeds in the Napoleonic era.