A wide-ranging if circumspect survey of military life - and death -
during Europe's enlightened but bellicose 18th century. Sandhurst
lecturer Duffy is an authority on Prussia's Frederick the Great,
the Voltaire patron and warrior-king who personified many of the
era's more striking contradictions. While Diderot's encyclopedists
advanced the cause of reason, for instance, their rulers were
constantly on the march in Continental and North American venues.
Duffy provides a comprehensive overview of how Austria, England,
France, Russia, and other powers of the period recruited, trained,
and campaigned their armed forces. Drawing on contemporary sources,
he offers detailed accounts of the workaday existence of officers,
NCOs, and enlisted personnel, not neglecting camp followers.
Covered as well are subjects ranging from combat deployments,
casualty care, drill regimens, discipline, equipage, uniforms, and
logistics through the duties of elite units like the Cossacks, who
conducted behind-the-lines raids that contrasted conspicuously with
commanders' preference for set-piece infantry battles or cavalry
melees. Along his scholarly but seldom pedantic way, Duffy provides
a wealth of fascinating trivia. There's also an appendix with
summary rundowns on the 18th century's major conflicts and
campaigns, including the pivotal Seven Years War, the War of the
Bavarian Succession, the French and Indian War, and the War of
America, Independence. At the close, however, the author cautions
that "the past is another country," leaving conclusions on the
universal soldier and the lessons of military history to bolder
annalists. A panoramic briefing that amounts to somewhat less than
the sum of its engrossing parts. (Kirkus Reviews)
What was war like in the Age of Reason, for those who fought in it?
Duffy answers this question using research from archives,
notebooks, letters, diaries and memoirs.
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