Book Review:
Napoleon's Marshals

By David Chandler

 

This is a big book. In hardcover, which is the recommended version to get, it is also very, very heavy.

Napoleon's Marshals takes an in-depth look at the lives and careers of the 26 army commanders who helped make the French army the almost-unbeatable force it became.

Each marshal gets a chapter to himself - written by one of 26 different authors - and that includes a chronology, a portrait, maps and a very detailed look at their careers and lives.

As a pretty nice extra, each chapter features the chosen marshal's best military performance - the battle he became truly famous for. There are also references and biographical notes.

Napoleon's Marshals also has two interesting appendixes - a listing of all France's marshals from 1047 to 1984 and an examination of French military organisation and tactics.

Well written and informative, Napoleon's Marshals is a very useful reference work to have.

- Richard Moore

9/10