Overview
Revealing new study of Napoleon's greatest victory. Dispels many of the myths surrounding the famous battle of the three emperors. Brought to life with numerous eyewitness accounts. A Main Selection for the History Book Club. The Battle of Austerlitz is almost universally regarded as the most impressive of Napoleon's many victories. The magnitude of the French achievement against a significantly larger army was unprecedented. In this insightful new study the author analyses the planning of the opposing forces and details the course of the battle hour by hour, describing the fierce see-saw battle around Sokolnitz, the epic struggle for the Pratzen Heights, the dramatic engagement between the legendary Lannes and Bagration in the north, and the widely misunderstood clash of Napoleon's Imperial Guard and Alexander's Imperial Leib-Guard. The author has produced a detailed and balanced assessment of the battle that for the first time places familiar French accounts in their proper perspective and exposes many myths regarding the battle that have been perpetuated and even embellished in recent books. With 1805: Austerlitz, the reader is left with a new appreciation of Napoleon and his Grande Army of 1805, an army that decisively defeated not a hapless relic of the ancien regime but rather a formidable professional army that had fought the French armies on equal terms five years earlier. Robert Goetz has been studying the Russian Army of the Napoleonic Wars for the past seven years, an area of specialization that emerged from his longstanding interest in the French Revolution and Napoleonic era. He is the author of several award-winning articles concerning the Russian Army and its campaigns.
Synopsis
The Battle of Austerlitz is almost universally regarded as the most impressive of Napoleon's many victories. The magnitude of the French achievement against a larger army was unprecedented. In this insightful new study the author analyses the planning of the opposing forces and details the course of the battle hour by hour, describing the fierce see-saw battle around Sokolnitz, the epic struggle for the Pratzen Heights, the dramatic engagement between the legendary Lannes and Bagration in the north, and the widely misunderstood clash of Napoleon's Imperial Guard and Alexander's Imperial Leib-Guard. The author has produced a detailed and balanced assessment of the battle that for the first time places familiar French accounts in their proper perspective and exposes many myths regarding the battle that have been perpetuated and even embellished in recent books. With 1805: Austerlitz, the reader is left with a new appreciation of Napoleon and his Grande Armie of 1805, an army that decisively defeated not a hapless relic of the ancient rigime but rather a formidable professional army that had fought the French armies on equal terms five years earlier.
Library Journal
Many books address the Grand Arm e, Napoleon's reorganization of the French army in 1805, but few devote many pages to the organization and operations of the forces opposing the French, especially the Austrian and Russian armies. Napoleon scholar Goetz has rectified that situation with this book, which is a balanced, finely detailed account of the 1805 campaign, culminating in the Battle of Austerlitz. Perhaps the most impressive of Napoleon's victories, Austerlitz has long been regarded by many as a victory over a weak, ill-trained coalition of enemy forces. By focusing on the Allied armies, Goetz has placed the battle in its proper perspective and, by doing so, has dispelled some of the myths surrounding the campaign. An hour-by-hour recounting, complete with very helpful maps, this book will satisfy specialists and nonspecialists alike with an interest in this time period. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-David Lee Poremba, Detroit P.L. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.