David G. Chandler

Who would like to read David Chandler's mammoth book; "The Campaigns of Napoleon”?

It is 1172 pages of which 1095 pages consist of the narrative covering Napoleon’s campaigns. The book is broken up into Seventeen Parts with numerous sub-chapters:

Part One – Apprenticeship to Arms (chapters 1-4)
Part Two – In Search of Reputation (chapters 5-12)
Part Three – Napoleon’s Art of War (chapters 13-17)
Part Four – Oriental Interlude (chapters 18-22)
Part Five – Toward the Summit (chapters 23-28)
Part Six – The Works of Peace and the Road to War (chapters 29-33)
Part Seven – From the Rhine to the Danube (chapters 34-38)
Part Eight – Rossbach Avenged (chapters 39-43)
Part Nine – Winter War (chapters 44-50)
Part Ten – Spring Recovery (chapters 51-54)
Part Eleven – Peninsular Intrigues (chapters 55-61)
Part Twelve – Hapsburgs Resurgent (chapters 62-66)
Part Thirteen – The Road to Moscow (chapter 67-70)
Part Fourteen – Retreat (chapters 71-75)
Part Fifteen – Twilight (chapters 76-81)
Part Sixteen – “La Patrie en Danger” (chapters 82-87)
Part Seventeen – The Campaign of the Hundred Days (chapters 88-93)

by David G. Chandler
Napoleonic war was nothing if not complex -- an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of moves and intentions, which by themselves went a long way towards baffling and dazing his conventionally-minded opponents into that state of disconcerting moral disequilibrium which so often resulted in their catastrophic defeat."

The Campaigns of Napoleon is an exhaustive analysis and critique of Napoleon's art of war as he himself developed and perfected it in the major military campaigns of his career. Napoleon disavowed any suggestion that he worked from formula ("Je n'ai jamais eu un plan d'opérations"), but military historian David Chandler demonstrates this was at best only a half-truth. To be sure, every operation Napoleon conducted contained unique improvisatory features. But there were from the first to the last certain basic principles of strategic maneuver and battlefield planning that he almost invariably put into practice. To clarify these underlying methods, as well as the style of Napoleon's fabulous intellect, Mr. Chandler examines in detail each campaign mounted and personally conducted by Napoleon, analyzing the strategies employed, revealing wherever possible the probable sources of his subject's military ideas.

The start date for this group read won't be till September 2013 to allow those interested to source a copy of this book.