Book
Review:
Military Maxims of Napoleon
Edited
by David Chandler
Translated by George C. D'Aguilar
Napoleon's Maxims
and Quotes
Greenhill
Books has done a wonderful thing for Napoleonic buffs in releasing
The Military Maxims of Napoleon.
The
book has not been published in Britain since 1901 and its last
original comments were of the Boer War. While those on Napoleon
Bonaparte and his thoughts on war remain the same – there are
a couple of little matters such as World Wars, Vietnam and others
that needed to be incorporated.
And
who better to do this than the doyen of Napoleonic experts David
Chandler.
There
are 78 military maxims quoted and each is then expanded upon in
terms of Napoleonic Era actions and battles, and then further
boosted by Chandler’s marvellous examples of modern (since The
Boer War) actions.
The
Military Maxims of Napoleon begins with Chandler’s introduction
and also includes William Cairnes’ 1901 version.
A
bit larger than pocket-sized, The Military Maxims of Napoleon
is a perfect travel companion – whether on a plane or commuting
on a train – and will have something of interest to all military
buffs.
It is also fascinating to see that almost two centuries on, Napoleon’s
genius survives the test of time in most cases.
-
Richard Moore
8.5/10
