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Books > Humanities > History > European history > 1750 to 1900
More than 200 years ago - under the inspiration and leadership of
Bonaparte - a revolutionary French Army invaded Egypt, then part of
the Ottoman Empire; this presence lasted beyond Bonaparte's own
departure and subsequent rise to power as First Consul. It ended
with another invasion - this time by the British - and the
repatriation in France of what was left of the 'Army of the
Orient'. The birth of Egyptology; the rise of modern Egypt; the
demise of the Ottoman Empire; and start of 'the great game' have
all been often told and studied, but what is less well known is
that as the French found themselves stranded in a foreign land -
profoundly alien to them in culture and climate - they had to adapt
to survive. Egypt was a proving ground for many officers and
ordinary soldiers who were to rise to prominence during the
Napoleonic period. Some of Napoleon's future inner circle - like
Davout, Savary and Lasalle - were first spotted by the young
Bonaparte in Egypt, and although initially unplanned as such, it
turned out to be the first attempt by the French to build a colony
on the African continent. It especially led the French Army to
adopt totally new clothing and equipment; to organise native units;
and even to draft men from faraway Darfur into its own ranks.
Drawing from a wealth of original primary material - much of it
never published or even seen before - this study focuses on the
French Army of the Orient and its organisation, uniforms, equipment
and daily life. It aims at providing a renewed and updated image of
the French soldier, as told by the surviving archives, memoirs and
rare contemporary iconography.
In the maelstrom of Napoleonic Europe, Britain remained defiant,
resisting French imperial ambitions. This Anglo-French rivalry was,
essentially, a politico-economic conflict for pre-eminence fought
on a global scale and it reached a zenith in 1806-1808 with
France's apparent dominance of Continental Europe. Britain reacted
swiftly and decisively to implement maritime-based strategies to
limit French military and commercial gains in Europe, while
protecting British overseas interests. The policy is particularly
evident in relations with Britain's "Ancient Ally": Portugal. That
country and, by association her South American empire, became the
front line in the battle between Napoleon's ambitions and British
maritime security. Shedding new light on British war aims and
maritime strategy, this is an essential work for scholars of the
Napoleonic Wars and British political, diplomatic, economic and
maritime/military history.
The concluding volume of this work provides a fresh description of
the climatic battle of Waterloo placed in the context of the whole
campaign. It discusses several vexed questions: Bl cher s
intentions for the battle, Wellington s choice of site, his reasons
for placing substantial forces at Hal, the placement of Napoleon s
artillery, who authorised the French cavalry attacks, Grouchy s
role on 18 and 19 June, Napoleon s own statements on the Garde s
formation in the final attack, and the climactic moment when the
Prussians reached Wellington s troops near la Belle Alliance. Close
attention is paid to the negotiations that led to the capitulation
of Paris, and subsequent French claims. The allegations of Las
Cases and later historians that Napoleon s surrender to Captain
Maitland of the Bellerophon amounted to entrapment are also
examined. After a survey of the peace settlement of 1815, the book
concludes with a masterly chapter reviewing the whole story of the
1815 campaign.
A masterly and concise reinterpretation of one of the seminal
events in modern history, by one of the world's foremost military
historians. The battle on Sunday 18th June 1815, near Waterloo,
Belgium was to be Napoleon's greatest triumph - but it ended in one
of the greatest military upsets of all time. Waterloo became a
legend overnight and remains one of the most argued-over battles in
history. Lord Wellington immortally dubbed it 'the nearest-run
thing you ever saw in your life,' but the British victory became
iconic, a triumph of endurance that ensured a 19th century world in
which Britain played the key role; it was also a defining moment
for the French, bringing Napoleon I's reign to an end and closing
the second Hundred Years' War. Alongside the great drama and
powerful characters, Jeremy Black gives readers a fascinating look
at where this battle belongs in the larger story of the tectonic
power shifts in Europe, and the story of military modernisation.
The result is a revelatory view of Waterloo's place in the broader
historical arc.
William Clarke of Prestonpans, Scotland, joined the 2nd Royal North
British Dragoons, the Scots Greys, in 1803\. Clarke had risen to
the rank of sergeant by the time the regiment was ordered to
Belgium on the news that Napoleon had escaped from Elba. Forming
part of what became known as the Union Brigade, the Scots Greys
played a key role in Napoleon s defeat at Waterloo. The John
Rylands Library, Manchester, recently acquired William Clarke s
600-page, hand-written memoir describing his enlistment and
military career, the highlight of which was the Waterloo campaign,
which he describes in unusual detail in the vernacular of the day,
presented and annotated by the renowned historian Garth Glover.
Thanks to this rare discovery, the reader can follow the movements
of the Scots Greys at every stage of the action throughout the
three days from Quatre-Bras to that climatic encounter on the Mont
St Jean. Clarke naturally portrays the charge of the Union Brigade
in dramatic and heroic terms, but he claims that the man who led
the charge, Major General William Ponsonby, was killed by a musket
ball and not cut down by French cavalry, as is usually stated, for
recklessly charging too far. After the battle, Clarke was part of
the Burial Party. He then graphically describes the sad scene as he
does the trail of the defeated French army as the pursuing
Prussians cut a merciless path on their way to Paris. A Scots Grey
at Waterloo provides the reader with an exceptionally in-depth
account of the actions of the cavalry at Waterloo that will mark
this memoir out as one of the most significant to have been
published in the last 200 years.
This volume traces the political history of Finland from 1809 to
1998, a history that has been dominated by the country's
geopolitical situation as a country that lies between Eastern and
Western Europe.
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