Description
Book SynopsisThis book tells the story of the invasion of France at the twilight of Napoleon''s empire. With more than a million men under arms throughout central Europe, Coalition forces poured over the Rhine River to invade France between late November 1813 and early January 1814. Three principal army groups drove across the great German landmark, smashing the exhausted French forces that attempted to defend the eastern frontier. In less than a month, French forces ingloriously retreated from the Rhine to the Marne; Allied forces were within one week of reaching Paris. This book provides the first complete English-language study of the invasion of France along a front that extended from Holland to Switzerland.
Trade Review'Leggiere has made a significant contribution to Cambridge's Military Histories series. His book belongs in every military history collection, especially those that concentrate on the Napoleonic era.' Library Journal
'The Fall of Napoleon is already a major work on the subject, and there's every reason to believe Volume 2 will be just as good.' www.europeanhistory.about.com
'… Leggiere has set the bar quite high.' Ralph Ashby, H-France
'In writing this book, Michael Leggiere not only updates the standard French and German military accounts written a century ago … but also builds on more recent diplomatic and political studies, for instance those by Henry Kissinger and Paul Schroeder. The text is detailed, but clearly written, and is supported by twenty-five excellent maps, and by fifteen portraits of military and political leaders.' Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research
Table of Contents1. The new Charlemagne; 2. Barbarians at the gate; 3. The Frankfurt proposals; 4. Napoleon and the French; 5. The left bank; 6. The right bank; 7. The lower Rhine; 8. The upper Rhine; 9. The middle Rhine; 10. Alsace and Franche-Comté; 11. The Vosges and the Saône; 12. Lorraine; 13. The Saar and the Moselle; 14. Belgium; 15. The Marne; 16. The Aube, Bourgogne, and the Rhône; 17. The protocols of Langres.
