A stunning collection of water colours with supporting text that provides a unique view of the contemporary British attitude to the Napoleonic Wars. The text may be pure British propaganda but it provides a view of the British attitude of the time and presents the history of the wars that shows British arms as noble and the final Alliances as close and mutual. – Most Highly Recommended
NAME: The Napoleonic Wars, as Illustrated by J.J.Jenkins FILE: R2801 AUTHOR: J J Jenkins PUBLISHER: iUniverse BINDING: hard back PAGES: 168 PRICE: £25.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: wartime artwork, Napoleonic Wars, key events, British Army, Allied Armies, Waterloo, Wellington, British propaganda, war artist
ISBN: 1-52671-789-1
IMAGE: B2801.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/yy2jdfd2 LINKS: DESCRIPTION: A stunning collection of water colours with supporting text that provides a unique view of the contemporary British attitude to the Napoleonic Wars. The text may be pure British propaganda but it provides a view of the British attitude of the time and presents the history of the wars that shows British arms as noble and the final Alliances as close and mutual. - Most Highly Recommended A book of this type is a challenge to review because it does not necessarily fit into the established historical views of a period that have been written long after events and frequently tell us more about the historians than about the histories they have written. The 54 stunning colour plates provide a unique view of important military events in the progress of the Napoleonic Wars. Many will buy this book just for the art work and feel the cover price is a bargain for an artwork of this quality. However, the text provides a very good picture of British attitudes of the time and dismissing this as pure propaganda is not entirely fair. It suggests a form of lies that are now the familiar part of politics and international relations, but the reality is that they express a national view from the period that is a mixture of pride and patriotism with a factual basis. Today, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to understand the society of the times, or the available communications. A large part of the British population was illiterate or barely literate. Much of society never travelled more than fifty miles from their place of birth, some never left their village. Even the rich could remain close to the place where generations of their families had lived. There was no system of mass media electronic news and information. Few owned many books and newspapers were largely confined to the towns and cities, often no more than a news sheet that was pinned up in the smaller towns and villages in a public place, rather than being delivered to the homes. Images were very important and valued. This collection provides what the British generally wanted to see. It portrayed what the British wanted to see for themselves rather than being a deliberate attempt to influence another nation. It congratulated a nation for its determination to stand against a tyrant and win. There was a natural pride in the achievement of military figures, such as Wellington, and to the triumph of British arms on the battlefield. There was also a desire to feel that Britain was supported by many other nations, even though the country had stood virtually alone for much of the period. At one stage only Sweden was allied to Britain and that alliance less than whole hearted. Many of those who became British Allies in the final stages of Napoleon's defeat had been actively engaged in fighting Britain for much of the period. As a result, this book not only provides stunning images but also presents the people behind the history from the British military leaders, to the population as a whole. As such it is an enjoyable romp through a series of desperate wars, through some great artwork.