All countries maintain elite troops of some form and the Imperial Guard formed Napoleon’s elite troops, directly winning many battles and, at Waterloo, marking his defeat when they were forced back by the British. This book is packed with information and insight. It includes many illustrations and of these many are in full colour – Most Highly Recommended
NAME: Napoleon's Imperial Guard, Uniforms and Equipment, The Infantry FILE: R2946 AUTHOR: Paul L Dawson PUBLISHER: Pen and Sword, frontline BINDING: hard back PAGES: 475 PRICE: £40.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Napoleonic Wars, Battle of Waterloo, shock troops, elite troops, battle honours, dress, weapons, accoutrements, equipment, organization, tactics, battle line
ISBN: 1-52670-191-X
IMAGE: B2946.jpg BUYNOW: tinyurl.com/yxggp7g9 LINKS: DESCRIPTION: All countries maintain elite troops of some form and the Imperial Guard formed Napoleon's elite troops, directly winning many battles and, at Waterloo, marking his defeat when they were forced back by the British. This book is packed with information and insight. It includes many illustrations and of these many are in full colour – Most Highly Recommended In starting to review a book from Pen & Sword and its imprints, it would be a disappointment to find any less than excellent. Sometimes there is a gulp at the price, but once the reviewer opens the book and starts through the pages it soon becomes obvious that the price is always aggressive, even before considering the various special offers where some handsome discounts are available. This book is firmly there. There is considerable information within its pages and the level of illustration is exemplary The number of illustrations in full colour is surprising and in some respects this could be regarded as a work of art. Many of these illustrations have been published for the first time and include colour photographs of items of equipment. There are also many reproductions of paintings of Imperial Guards in various dress, providing a level of detail never achieved before in the many books on the Imperial Guard that have appeared over the years. As the FIRE Project team completes some major engineering work on our on-line presentation for news and information, we are in the process of re-introducing book reviews from our earliest databases. This is time consuming and, as a team of volunteers, there are always many demands on available volunteer hours, so that this may prove a lengthy exercise. By coincidence, the work has recently included putting several reviews into our current standard format that include what at the time were outstanding works on the Imperial Guard. It is interesting to compare them and see how very good this new book is. Of course the Imperial Guard did not leap fully formed from Napoleon's imagination. Directly, it evolved from the Consular Guard of the French Republic. This elite corps had in turn evolved from the elite units of the French Army before the French Revolution. Napoleon developed the original traditions of French elite troops into an all-arms formation of almost 100,000 men and from them drew the members of his personal bodyguard in much the same way that the British Monarchy formed its Household Division from elite units that included the Blues and Royals, and where the Prussian Kaisers formed their Household Division from the elite Prussian forces, including the Ulans which were lancers and formed the close protect squad for the Kaiser. This magnificent volume covers the Imperial Guard Infantry and Foot Artillery. In their distinctive uniforms they were an impressive formation that were held as the principle tactical reserve, committed to battle sparingly and at the crucial parts of the battle. That gave them a reputation for being the shock troops that were unbeatable, making the shock of their repulse at Waterloo, by the British tactical reserve, the defining point of the engagement and the signal for the start of the rout of the French Army.