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Napoleon's Great Adversary: The Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army, 1792-1814
Although little studied today, this Austrian commander fought against Napoleon at the height of his power and came close to defeating him.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1982
About the author
Gunther E. Rothenberg
12 books5 followersGunther Erich Rothenberg was an internationally known military historian, best known for his publications on the Habsburg military and Napoleonic Wars.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 4, 2018
I did not enjoy this book as much as I expected to. Although, I did have high expectations before reading. To be sure, this book is valuable for its focus on the Austrian army of the Napoleonic Wars; a subject that is hard to find good information on in English texts.
I think the strength of this book is in showing that the Hapsburg's army was a product of the monarchy and its innate conservatism. The rigid social structure in the empire and the reluctance of Emperor Francis and other nobility to grant its subjects liberty and sovereignty prevented the Austrian army from being able to adapt to the French style of warfare. Rather, and despite the frequent efforts at reform, the Austrian army and its high command remained an institution that was reluctant to depart from its 18th century roots. I found this analysis interesting food-for-thought, especially in comparison to the British and French armies. There were many similarities with the former, with both being conservative, monarchical states that retained linear, 18th century tactics. On the other hand, the French Revolution enabled France to field a people's army quite different than the Austrian force.
Unfortunately, I felt this book could have been much better. To start, the writing is dry and hard to get absorbed in. Additionally, much of the content is centered around the army's organization and structure; the descriptions of campaigns and battles were rather brief and lackluster. But the biggest fault, in my opinion, is that there is too much focus on the high-level aspects of the army. Of course the strategy and commanders, Archduke Charles in particular, are important, but Rothenberg asserts several times that the common soldiers were the strength of the army, and yet they receive little detailed attention. Especially considering the multi-national aspect of the Austrian army and the tactical prowess of its rank and file, it is a shame that the common soldier receives little detail in this book.
In summary, this book is useful as a survey of the Austrian army in the Napoleonic Wars; particularly for research. However, if you are looking for an account of the campaigns and battles of this period, I suggest you look elsewhere.
I think the strength of this book is in showing that the Hapsburg's army was a product of the monarchy and its innate conservatism. The rigid social structure in the empire and the reluctance of Emperor Francis and other nobility to grant its subjects liberty and sovereignty prevented the Austrian army from being able to adapt to the French style of warfare. Rather, and despite the frequent efforts at reform, the Austrian army and its high command remained an institution that was reluctant to depart from its 18th century roots. I found this analysis interesting food-for-thought, especially in comparison to the British and French armies. There were many similarities with the former, with both being conservative, monarchical states that retained linear, 18th century tactics. On the other hand, the French Revolution enabled France to field a people's army quite different than the Austrian force.
Unfortunately, I felt this book could have been much better. To start, the writing is dry and hard to get absorbed in. Additionally, much of the content is centered around the army's organization and structure; the descriptions of campaigns and battles were rather brief and lackluster. But the biggest fault, in my opinion, is that there is too much focus on the high-level aspects of the army. Of course the strategy and commanders, Archduke Charles in particular, are important, but Rothenberg asserts several times that the common soldiers were the strength of the army, and yet they receive little detailed attention. Especially considering the multi-national aspect of the Austrian army and the tactical prowess of its rank and file, it is a shame that the common soldier receives little detail in this book.
In summary, this book is useful as a survey of the Austrian army in the Napoleonic Wars; particularly for research. However, if you are looking for an account of the campaigns and battles of this period, I suggest you look elsewhere.
June 7, 2017
While a generally decent book, I found that I really was a bit disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high... not sure. In some ways I was left feeling like Mr. Rothenberg knew more than he was writing, or just wasn't getting sufficient details down inadvertently. Too frequently however, he simply repeated himself and restated already well known information.
This sounds a bit down, and I really don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book. It actually confirms much of what other authors allude to relating to the bizarre Austrian command structure. I liked the discussions on the politics and cliques inside the government and military, but really was hoping for even more. I learned a great deal about Archduke Charles, but still felt like the book was implying much more detail on how he ran the armies.
The writing style is good, and the illustrations and maps were helpful. I do feel more effort should have been given to state supporting evidence for things like how a general was incompetent, or devious, etc. Just making these kind of statements with no facts or details just isn't high quality writing I expect to earn a 5 star grade. References were quite good though.
This book was fairly good, and certainly a solid 3 star effort. Maybe even a 3.5. A quality read if you wish to learn about the Austrian army, though you will have to supplement it greatly to look at their efforts in a military sense.
This sounds a bit down, and I really don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book. It actually confirms much of what other authors allude to relating to the bizarre Austrian command structure. I liked the discussions on the politics and cliques inside the government and military, but really was hoping for even more. I learned a great deal about Archduke Charles, but still felt like the book was implying much more detail on how he ran the armies.
The writing style is good, and the illustrations and maps were helpful. I do feel more effort should have been given to state supporting evidence for things like how a general was incompetent, or devious, etc. Just making these kind of statements with no facts or details just isn't high quality writing I expect to earn a 5 star grade. References were quite good though.
This book was fairly good, and certainly a solid 3 star effort. Maybe even a 3.5. A quality read if you wish to learn about the Austrian army, though you will have to supplement it greatly to look at their efforts in a military sense.
October 14, 2014
Gunther Rothenberg is one of the very few historians who write about Imperial Austria in English, so that alone makes the book worth "the price of admission." While the editing was occasionally sloppy and the maps leave a lot to be desired (especially the egregious habit some publishers have of printing a map across 2 pages, thus losing the center of the map to the fold in the binding), the book takes a hard and much-neglected look at the army that generally supplied more troops to fight Napoleon than any other in Europe. True, the Austrians had their failings - gone into in great detail by Rothenberg - and lost more often than they won, but they were still standing when the dust cleared. The author is especially careful to point out the relationship between the essentially conservative leadership of both the Empire and the army, and the lack of progress in reforming its most glaring shortcomings. I do think that the copious illustrations would have been better dedicated to the various generals mentioned in the text, and perhaps artillery weapons, and not so much on the uniforms worn by the various units. That's really trivia, in my opinion. But, all in all, a valuable addition to one's knowledge of Napoleonic warfare.
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September 28, 2015Written by one of the best historians on the Austrian Army, this book focuses on the Austrian armies attempt to fight Napoleon and the reforms undertaken between each defeat. This is recommended for the intermediate Napoleonic reader to understand why the Austrians never preformed well on the battlefield yet kept on coming back to it.
December 15, 2025
An excellent accounting of the Austrian Army and its struggle against Revolutionary/Napoleonic France. It deals with each coliation war and its aftermath on the Austrian Army.
A central theme is a focus on Archduke Charles and his struggle against his own health, against his brother the Emperor and the other Austrian Generals.
My only compliant is that the book wasn't longer!
A central theme is a focus on Archduke Charles and his struggle against his own health, against his brother the Emperor and the other Austrian Generals.
My only compliant is that the book wasn't longer!
January 7, 2018
Very fine insight into they style of Empire Austria had become.
September 19, 2010
Book number twelve from 2007 is Napoleon's Great Adversaries: The Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army 1792-1814 by Gunther E. Rothenberg. If you aren't interested in history in general and Napoleonic-era history specifically, don't bother. Still it was remarkable how successful they were given the ridiculous, ego-driven infighting among the Austrian high command, including Emperor Franz himself. It does give one an idea of just how complicated it is to keep an army of tens of thousands of men supplied in the field, not to mention at the same time keeping track of where they all are and what the enemy is doing.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews