reading list?

[ndrose]

As I become involved in this hobby, I find myself wishing to compile a reading list to better inform myself about the period. I have a reasonably good background in history, but my knowledge of the Napoleonic Era is mainly derived from more general histories (and Tolstoy), and I'd like some more specialized reading, especially on the military side.

Some books I have tentatively on my list, which I'd like to solicit the group's opinion about:

Horne, The Age of Napoleon
Howarth, Trafalgar: The Nelson Touch
Johnson, Napoleon: A Life (hostile bio, I gather)
Markham, Napoleon
Nicolson, Napoleon: 1812


I'd also be grateful for other recommendations.

Nathan

[DCWhitworth]

Not a book, but you could try this - http://napoleon.thepodcastnetwork.com/

Features the aforesaid Mr Markham.

[ndrose]

Thanks, David. That looks like an interesting site.

Seems to be a different Markham, though. The book I have is an older one, by Felix Markham.

Nathan

[DCWhitworth]

Ah yes, this is J David Markham. I've found it to be very good, but perhaps to be taken with a pinch of salt because it's definitely pro-Napoleon.

I've been a fan of Napoleonic history since childhood, but the area I'm most familiar with is the Waterloo campaign, however the podcast made some startling errors in this section so it made me question how accurate the other sections are. However it is a really good account of Napoleon's career. I've got it on my mobile phone and I'm steadily working my way through the episodes.

[kirk23_MatrixForum]

Hello Nathan,

I can highly recommend NELSONS NAVY by Brian Lavery this reference book covers the entire Napoleonic wars The ships,men and organisation 1792 - 1815 all aspects of the naval side of the conflict, is covered including information on foreign navys.

[WJPalmer1]

A book referenced several times in J. David Markham's Napoleon 101 podcasts as "must reading" is The Campaigns of Napoleon, by David G. Chandler (lot's of "Davids" here, if you've noticed!). It is well written and abounds with maps, Napoleonic doctrine and tactical discussions.

Ron

[DCWhitworth]

ORIGINAL: exp101

A book referenced several times in J. David Markham's Napoleon 101 podcasts as "must reading" is The Campaigns of Napoleon, by David G. Chandler (lot's of "Davids" here, if you've noticed!). It is well written and abounds with maps, Napoleonic doctrine and tactical discussions.

Ron

I can second this, I have a copy. It is a weighty tome, literally.

And I have to credit Ron with pointing me at the Napoleon 101 podcasts originally.

[ndrose]

Thanks for these suggestions. I will put in some orders at the library. Another one I have coming is Napoleon's Wars: An International History, by Charles Esdaile.

Nathan

[anarchyintheuk]

I'd recommend the West Point Atlas for the Wars of Napoleon. It has outstanding maps and good commentary.

[no_dice]

Two books worth a look are

(Lord?) Alan Palmer's "Napoleon in Russia" (Read it and you to will also want the EIA Russian infantry/artillery to be 4.0 and perhaps 4.5 in Russia!)

David hamilton-Williams' "The Fall of Napoleon" (Picks up at the end of 1812 and has some very good info on the political situation he faced)

No Dice

[pzgndr]

I've read three Napoleonic books in the past year since getting hooked on EiA.  "The War of Wars" by Robert Harvey was very good and I thought was very well balanced.  "The Napoleonic Wars" by Gregory Fremont-Barnes and Todd Fisher is also a good solid reference, an Osprey book.  "The Wars Against Napoleon" by Michael Franceschi and Ben Wilder was interesting but seemed much too emotional and biased toward Napoleon; I did not find the authors' argument compelling.  One of these days I'll find and read David Chandler's book; that one keeps getting recommended.

[DCWhitworth]

If you want a good assessment of the British Navy and its development and what made it tick, try 'Men of Honour' by Adam Nicolson. It really explains why the British Navy was superior to the others.

[ndrose]

Quite a family, those Nicolsons. The book _Napoleon: 1812_ I mentioned above is by Adam Nicolson's father, Nigel Nicolson, who was the son of Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West (the quasi-subject of Virginia Woolf's _Orlando_). Harold Nicolson, too, wrote a Napoleonic book, which I read long ago, about the Congress of Vienna.

Nathan

[DCWhitworth]

I wondered if they were related. I've got the book on the Congress of Vienna too.

[iamspamus]

Yep, a good one. I have it too. If I remember when I get home, I'll go and look up some of my Nap books.

Jason

ORIGINAL: exp101

A book referenced several times in J. David Markham's Napoleon 101 podcasts as "must reading" is The Campaigns of Napoleon, by David G. Chandler (lot's of "Davids" here, if you've noticed!). It is well written and abounds with maps, Napoleonic doctrine and tactical discussions.

Ron

[kirk23_MatrixForum]

Hi Nathan,

            These 2 books give an excellant perspective of the campaign, from both the land war and sea war side of things.

               Navies of the Napoleonic era & Armies of the Napoleonic era both by Digby Smith.[:)]

[pzgndr]

I got a copy of Chandler's book yesterday. Very nice reference.

[Jimmer]

If you are interested in how to play Turkey such that you appear to be a raving lunatic (but are not), try The Ottoman Centuries by Lord Kinross. It's a vanilla history book, but helps explain some of the mindset behind the Ottoman/Turkish way of looking at the world. You have to put yourself into the mindset of some of Turkey's greatest leaders, and play like you would envision them playing.
 
Playing alternately like Suleiman the Conquerer and then Suleiman the Magnificent made the game very enjoyable. For me, anyhow. Ever heard of the six-nation coalition to take TURKEY down? Yes, even France had to join in. In fact, if he hadn't, the other five likely would not have won the war, and certainly would not have pulled Turkey back from the brink of dominant power status. It would have gotten really ugly if that had happened.
 
It was a fun book to read, too, if you like history.