Dictionary of Napoleonic Wars

Customer Reviews:

Don't Sell Your Chandler!.......2001-04-05

This new dictionary of the Napoleonic era is roughly comparable to that written by David Chandler. Pope has previously written Hornblower's Navy, as well as historical dictionaries of the First and Second World Wars and of the Third Reich. Pope describes his purpose in writing this dictionary as an attempt "to lay out the basic shape and structure of the wars, using dictionary format and rigorous cross-referencing to enable a balance between overview and detail, highlighting the many links between that particularly exciting slice of the past and our present." (p. 10)

The Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars is divided into four sections. The first, the "Introduction," provides a brief narrative overview of the background and events of the era that Pope defines as 1792 to 1815. The second section is the dictionary itself, which includes more than 1000 entries, ranging in length from a single sentence for "Sappers" to seven pages for "Bonaparte, Napoleon". The book covers the War of 1812 and conflicts fought elsewhere, as well as the European conflict. The third section is a thirteen page "Chronology of the Wars 1792-1815." Finally, a collection of thirty maps is included which range from a political map of Europe in 1812 to a map showing the opening positions of the battle of Borodino. The author states that the maps are "primarily intended to help the reader navigate around those places discussed in the entries, and are therefore most concerned with naming and marking locations."

As in any undertaking of this sort the author must steer a precarious course between detailing minutiae and painting the era in too broad strokes. Specialists in the era will likely always be disappointed as to the space devoted or slant given to a particular subject. The book, as the title implies, confines itself mainly to military aspects, with non-military topics receiving, naturally, less attention.

Three drawbacks with Pope's Dictionary are a lack of references or bibliography, a lack of an index and a lack of illustrations. At first glance one would question the need for an index, but if readers want to know about Plancenoit they will be at a loss. They might look under "Waterloo, Battle of," if they were knowledgeable enough to know to look there, but even then they would not know what other entries to search under. I tried to find some information on the Spanish prison camp on the islet of Cabrera and was unable to locate any entries that mentioned the "death camp" where 9,000 to 16,000 French prisoners were detained (of which only a third survived). I checked under "Cabrera," "Dupont," "Bailen," "Prisoners of War," etc. all to no avail. Is there an entry somewhere in the book on the camp at Cabrera? There's no way to know. Bibliographic references under at least the longer entries would both give the casual reader additional sources of information and also give a more well-read user an idea of what sources the author used to write that entry. No pictures illustrating either portraits of individuals mentioned nor of concepts covered are included. A reader would have to look elsewhere if the wished to know what a mortar looked like, what a hussar wore or to see the difference between a brigantine and a frigate.

Book Description

Presented here, for the first time in any language, are more than 800 detailed biographies of the senior Russian officers who commanded troops in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, together with 440 bandx portraits. This amazing study spans the critical years of 1792 to 1815, but also includes those officers whose service fell before and after this period.

Dr. Mikaberidze's The Russian Officer Corps is based upon years of research in Russian archives. Each biography includes the subject's place of birth, family history, educational background, a detailed description of his military service, his awards and promotions, wounds, transfers, commands, and other related information, including the date and place of his death and internment, if known.

In addition to the biographies is an introductory chapter setting forth in meticulous detail the organization of the Russian military, how it was trained, the educational and cultural background of the officer corps, its awards and their history and meaning, and much more. This outstanding overview is supported and enhanced by three dozen charts, tables, and graphics that illustrate the rich history of the Russian officer corps.

This study also includes a Foreword by Dr. Donald H. Horward, and an annotated bibliography to help guide students of the period through the available Russian sources.

Stunning in its scope and depth of coverage, The Russian Officer Corps will be of tremendous use to historians, scholars, genealogists, hobbyists, wargamers, and anyone working or studying late 18th and early 19th-century European history. Every student of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as every academic library, will find this impressive reference work absolutely indispensable.

Serious readers of this momentous period of history cannot afford to be without this exceptional reference work.

About the Author: Alexander Mikaberidze is an assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University. He holds a law degree from the Republic of Georgia and a Ph.D. in history from Florida State University, where he worked at the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution. He serves as president of the Napoleonic Society of Georgia. In addition to his numerous articles on various Napoleonic-related topics, Dr. Mikaberidze's publications include a biography of Napoleon in Georgian, two volumes on the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, and the forthcoming Lion of the Russian Army: Life and Career of General Peter Bagration

Customer Reviews:

The first liberators.......2005-12-01

This is a book about a very unique officer corps written using a wealth of research not seen on the subject before. Far more then just a dictionary of names, it seeks to give something of a feel for what it was that eventually led the Imperial Russian Army of Tzar Alexander 1st (the Blessed) to eventually enter Paris in 1814. For the first time it becomes evident that the Russian officer corps was far from lacking in sophistication, and far less xenophobic then is often supposed. The many foreign officers who served in its ranks attest to the fact that almost anyone was accepted if they could show good will and contribute skill to the evolving force which was at the time but a century into its modern history after Peter the Great's reforms.
Apparently due to publisher's editing the bibliography was greatly reduced, but this takes nothing away from the contents. Anyone who wants to understand the leadership that made the Russian Army of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars must have this volume on their bookshelf.

The Unknown Soldiers.......2005-09-10

With but a handful of exceptions, the Russian officer corps is the least known of those who served and led in the wars of the Napoleonic era. While careful readers and hobbyists might be able to name most of Napoleon's marshals, they might be hard-pressed to identify even a fraction of as many Russian generals. Georges Six's Dictionnaire of French officers or Mullié's Biographie of early nineteenth century military men, as well as any number of English-language reference tools on the Napoleonic era military have been available to students of history, but no comparable biographical work on the Russian military has been available to the non-Russophone reader. The Russian language, the Cyrillic alphabet and the relative unavailability of Russian sources has presented a barrier to those seeking more information on the Russians who fought Napoleon's armies.

Dr. Mikaberidze has written what will undoubtedly be the essential work of reference on the Russian officer corps. He begins with an overview of the Russian officer corps, giving a brief history from its beginnings under Peter the Great through to the Napoleonic era. We learn how Russia's military was trained, as well as the cultural milieu of the officer corps. Mikaberidze manages to pack a great deal of information into this introduction, supplementing the text with numerous tables and graphs. Included is a discussion of the ranks in the Russian military, with a number of tables marking their evolution over time. Finally Russian military orders are detailed with illustrations of their use.

Dr. Alexander Mikaberidze, an assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University, holds a law degree from the Republic of Georgia and a Ph.D. in history from Florida State University, where he was a member of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution. He serves as president of the Napoleonic Society of Georgia. Mikaberidze is also the author of the forthcoming Lion of the Russian Army: Life and Career of General Peter Bagration.

The Russian officer corps was made up almost exclusively of nobles (86.5 % in 1812), and many had entered the service at the age of sixteen or younger (nearly 500 of the officers serving in 1812 were sixteen or younger at their enlistment-13 had been five years of age or younger). Promotion for the nobility could be relatively quick if the officer had the right connections, while soldiers from the ranks might have to wait a quarter of a century to advance from the ranks of NCOs to commission officer status.

The meat of the books is the 800 biographies of Russian officers who fought against the French, Turks, Swedes, and Russia's other enemies during "our" era (naval officers are included as well). These biographies generally include dates of birth and death, family and educational history, military and civil service including notable battles and events, promotions and awards (including foreign orders) as well as other details of the subject's professional history. More than half the biographies are accompanied by black-and-white portraits. The biographies are arranged alphabetically, in an attractive double-column format. Individual entries run from a single paragraph to a couple of pages.

Dr. Mikaberidze has consulted a small library of archival, primary and secondary sources in compiling this unique and solid dictionary. These biographies will be a boon for historians wishing to distinguish, for instance, officers of the same surnames who are frequently identified by numbers (Mikaberidze points out that there were eighteen officers named Grekov, of whom six are detailed here). The volume also includes foreign-born officers serving in the Russian service, including British, Irish, German, Austrian, Polish, Italian, French, Spanish, Greek, Danish Dutch, Serb, and Armenian officers in the Russian military, demonstrating the cosmopolitan nature of war in the Napoleonic era.

Attractively produced, well-bound (though it will undoubtedly get heavy use), this work should be in libraries everyone with a keen interest in the Napoleonic wars and Russian history. The Russian Officer Corps is certain to be a standard reference source for years to come. Though I can't recommend this book more highly, I would have liked to have seen an index. An index, for example, would have allowed the reader the reader to locate all the officers who participated in a particular battle. A glossary of Russian military terms might also have been useful.

Consumate reference material for Napoleonic buffs.......2005-03-27

Name any Russian staff officer of the Napoleonic Wars and he's almost certain to be in here. You get a full treatment for each officer with their medals and awards and a brief social and military history. I haven't yet found an officer I wanted to look up not listed in this comprehensive guide.
An essential work of reference for all scholars of Russian Napoleonic history and also for fanatical followers of the Emperor who want to know more about their adversaries.

The Russian Juggernaut.......2005-03-26

This superb volume is a must for any student of the Napoleonic Wars whether or not you are interested in the Russian Army, its campaigns, its organization and equipment. Books such as these, at the level of scholarship with which it is written, seldom come along. In short, this volume is indispensable for any student, enthusiast, or historian of the period.

The author has compiled an unrivaled source of material on the Russian officer corps of the period and in doing so has written biographical data on hundreds of Russian officers, many having a portrait of the officer concerned with the biography.

The volume is thoroughly sourced and documented, and the endnotes, where appropriate, are most helpful. The foreward for the volume is by Don Horward, one of the best Napoleonic historians in the United States and in the Napoleonic community as a whole. His endorsement of this fine effort speaks volumes for its accuracy and worth.

The best portion of the book, however, is the excellent opening chapter on the history of the Russian Officer Corps. It is chock full of data, tables, and information that covers the Russians officer corps from 'muzzle to butt plate.' It is the most valuable portion of the book and a great introduction to the biographies.

Seldom does one come across a book of this value, scholarship, and scope. It is the definitive volume for the subject in English, and the author and publisher have done all of us a great service in presenting this outstanding volume to the public.

A superb work of scholarship.......2005-01-18

With a few exceptions, Western books on the Napoleonic Wars tend to deal with the Russian officers who fought in those wars in a rather cavalier fashion (if at all). Inaccuracies abound, even in descriptions of such prominent figures as Kutuzov, Bagration and Barclay de Tolly, while the lesser-known members of the Russian officer corps are often dismissed as being of little account. There is the added factor that all too may English-speaking writers (and this includes some historians who ought to know better) are so in awe of Tolstoy that they forget that War and Peace, while based on extensive research, is a work of fiction, and take it literally as a source of information about the Russian army. While his account of events is accurate in many respects, Tolstoy frequently bent facts or omitted them altogether if they did not fit in with his view of events.

Aleko Mikaberidze's monumental work sets out to change this state of affairs. Based as far as possible on primary sources, it contains biographies of more than 800 officers, both junior and senior, who served in the Russian army during the period of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. I was particularly pleased that it includes the enigmatic figure of Nadezhda Durova, who enlisted in an Uhlan regiment disguised as a man, and took part in several campaigns, reaching the rank of Staff Captain (Staff Rotmistr) in the cavalry. Wherever possible the biographies are illustrated by a portrait of the subject, making the accounts truly three-dimensional.

As well as the biographies themselves, the book includes much valuable information on the history, character and composition of the Russian officer corps. I am already familiar with Dr Mikaberidze's work through his Internet-published articles and his Ph.D. thesis on the most charismatic of the Russian generals, Petr Bagration. Like his previous writings, Dr Mikaberidze's book is meticulously researched and extremely well written, in a style that is informative yet very readable; it is handsomely produced and well laid out.

This will prove an extremely valuable source book for historians, war-gamers, historical researchers and novelists, as well as non-professionals like me who are simply fascinated by that period of history, especially as it pertains to Russia. Thoroughly recommended!

Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars (Wordsworth Military Library)

Average customer rating:

One of 200 Chandler's books.
Far better dictionaries available
The Thin Chandler
An average book.
This is a place to start your research.

Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars (Wordsworth Military Library)
David G. Chandler
Manufacturer: Wordsworth Military Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

One of 200 Chandler's books........2000-03-06

This is the recipe a la Chandler: good pictures, poor, and with errors text, some maps. Rush, rush. I have the impression that author wants to finnish quickly this book, so he can write about chess or farming, or angels (see amazon.com). Yes, I looked for Fuengirola, battle where the Poles trashed the Britons completely. This is outrageous what Chandler writes about this battle.

Far better dictionaries available.......1999-11-10

This book was a disappointment. When the subject matter concerns the British, Chandler uses the sharpest pencil possible to get all boastful rights in place; when it talks about subjects not connected to the British, the author's thin descriptions, often incorrect facts and uneven work, make for an unsatisfying read. Recommend that you seek alternate dictionaries for this period.

The Thin Chandler.......1999-10-29

I am interested in the German King Legion, Polish and Swiss troops at Peninsula. I was deeply surprised at the author's description of the battle at Fuengirola where the Poles trashed British troops. Nothing is more misleading. Please compare this to G. Nafziger's "Saxons and Poles" and to other authors.

I think this author has tried to specialize in too many topics, (see his other books mentioned on amazon.com)and that this is the side effect.

I am also disappointed in the maps. These great battles appear like skirmishes when compared to those which were fought by the British.

An average book........1999-07-24

Too much is written about the commander of a small British corps that supported the Spanish guerillas, and not enough about the commanders of the greatest armies like Suvorow, Archduke Charles, Davout. Regarding the maps, Borodino appears to be a mere skirmish in comparison to those battles where Chandler's compatriots took part.

This is a place to start your research........1998-01-22

This a place to start your research if you are a serious or casual student of the Napoleonic Wars. There are some errors, omissions and "failed" links. But all in all a good reference. Highly desired by the historian and wargamer alike. Eric T. Holmes Camino Real Post

Average customer rating:

Why not all the maxims???????
Napoleon's Wisdom

The Military Maxims of Napoleon

Manufacturer: Greenhill Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1853675121

Book Description

This is a distillation of the knowledge, intuition and wisdom of history's greatest military commander. Napoleon's success was built upon practical experience combined with his own study of classical warfare and his natural grasp of the key principles of war. His thoughts, theories and commentaries on the subject are here presented in the form of accessible and readable maxims and these, with explanatory comments, reveal the fundamentals of Napoleon's art of waging war. David Chandler has added to the explanatory comments and provided the necessary context for modern readers to compare Napoleon's principles with the experience of war in the modern age. This revealing guide presents Napoleon's principles of war and his art of conducting statecraft; it is a fascinating insight into a great mind and a unique collection of tenets on warfare in the Napoleonic era.

Customer Reviews:

Why not all the maxims???????.......2001-10-25

Napoleon's Maxims totalled more than ninety, and the totality of ALL of these are invaluable to the student of military history. Yet only a fraction of them were translated in the original volume that first appeared in the early 20th century; even worse, Chandler did not complete the job since this would have been a golden opportunity to showcase the previously ommitted and rarely-seen Maxims. Hopefully, some historian will do the complete job the next time.

Napoleon's Wisdom.......2000-05-08

Here is a distillation in one slim volume of the knowledge and wisdom of history's greatest military commander. Napoleon's unparalleled success was built on practical experience combined with his own study of the great empire-builders, from Alexander to Fredrick the Great--and the essence of what he learned from them is incorporated in this book

Book Description

"This work contains much information on a colorful period in history. It will be welcomed in academic and public libraries." Reference Books Bulletin

Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789-1799

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Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789-1799

Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0313211418

Book Description

The decade between 1789 and 1799 bore witness to a complex succession of rapid-fire and cataclysmic events. These events and the people involved in them changed not only the entire course of French history, but had enormous impact on the modern world. Despite the influence of the revolutionary decade in France and the enduring interest in it, scholars and students have had no single cohesive and easily accessible source of basic fact, interpretation, and related reading. In the Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789-1799 Samuel F. Scott and Barry Rothaus gather together, for the first time in English, a vast amount of historical information through interpretive analyses covering the major events and personalities connected with the French Revolutionary period. Ninety-six historians of the French Revolution, many of international renown, have contributed over five hundred essays to this comprehensive handbook. No important element of the history is omitted; every major event, individual, constitutional development, political organization, committee, institution, and cultural aspect of the French Revolutionary decade is examined and analyzed. A bibliography immediately following each article places the most germane sources at the fingertips of scholars and students who wish to conduct further studies of specific topics. A comprehensive index and cross references for each entry allow the reader to obtain a well-rounded perspective of any subject. The volume concludes with a detailed chronology of the 1789-1799 period. The Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789-1799 is the most current and exhaustive guide to the study of the French Revolution in English, and possibly in any language. As a readily accessible source of essential and accurate data and as a springboard for deeper study, it will prove invaluable to French Revolution specialists and students alike and should be part of every educational library.

Historical Dictionary of the Wars of the French Revolution

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Historical Dictionary of the Wars of the French Revolution
Steven T. Ross
Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 081083409X

Book Description

Describes significant persons, places and events, encounters and battles, that substantially changed the nature of warfare at the end of the 18th century in Europe. Additionally, it gives a sense of the impact of these changes on the general course of human history.

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Dictionary of Napoleonic Wars
Stephen Pope
Manufacturer: Facts on File 01/1//2000
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5WW6C

Book Description

From the 18th century, African Americans, like many others, have migrated to California to seek fortunes or, often, the more modest goals of being able to find work, own a home, and raise a family relatively free of discrimination. Not only their search but also its outcome is covered in Seeking El Dorado.

Whether they settled in major cities or smaller towns, African Americans created institutions and organizations--churches, social clubs, literary societies, fraternal orders, civil rights organizations--that embodied the legacy of their past and the values they shared. Blacks came in search of the same jobs as other Americans, but the search often proved frustrating. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, African American leadership in the state consistently focused on achieving racial justice. The essays in this book speak of triumph and hardship, success, discrimination, and disappointment.

Seeking El Dorado is a major contribution to black history and the history of the American West and will be of interest to both scholars and general readers. Lawrence de Graaf, professor emeritus of history at California State University at Fullerton, is the author of numerous articles on black history in the West.

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Seeking El Dorado: African Americans in California.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Joyce A. Hanson
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B0008FSB8A
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on November 1, 2002. The length of the article is 768 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Seeking El Dorado: African Americans in California.(Book Review)
Author: Joyce A. Hanson
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2002
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 68 Issue: 4 Page: 1012(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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