EUCOM Battle Knowledge Centers

Written by noted military historian Thomas R. Mockaitis, this book explores conventional and unconventional conflicts and considers the relationships between them. It considers how epic struggles like the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the conflicts in the Middle East, among many others, shaped human history. The coverage serves to highlight four themes: the relationship between armed forces and the societies that create them; the impact of technology (not just armaments) on warfare; the role of ideas and attitudes towards violence in determining why and how wars are fought; and the relationship between conventional and unconventional operations. The book also covers the advent and evolution of unconventional warfare, including counterinsurgency, the War on Terror, and current conflicts in the Middle East. It then concludes with consideration of the forms armed conflict will take in the future.

A.H. Atteridge's biography of Michel Ney, Napoleon's most famous marshal, is a classic work of its kind. He describes Ney's meteoric career in vivid detail, from his enlistment as a hussar in the army of Louis XVI, his rapid promotion through the ranks of the revolutionary armies and his long service under Napoleon. Ney's pugnacious character and his capacity for inspiring leadership come across strongly in innumerable actions across 25 years of almost constant warfare. Particularly striking are the author's accounts of Ney's contribution to Napoleon's most famous campaigns - Ulm and Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau and Friedland and the catastrophic march on Moscow. Ney's last battle, Waterloo, and his subsequent execution by the returning Bourbons form the last chapter of this fascinating story.

David Chandler has long been regarded as the greatest interpreter in modern times of the Napoleonic Era. His studies of the campaigns and tactics of Napoleon Bonaparte have set the standard for all subsequent writers. In Napoleon, Chandler places the emperor's 60 battles in the context of his entire life, beginning with his boyhood in Corsica. All of Napoleon's campaigns and endeavors are covered, with an eye to their influence on the later history of Europe, and with particular attention to Napoleon's characteristic use of commanders from humble backgrounds.

There are many books about Napoleon, and some of them attempt to analyse his particular brand of military genius. Almost all these books owe a tremendous debt to Colonel Count Yorck von Wartenburg. His book was published at the end of the nineteenth Century and is still as important today; indeed, Dr David Chandler acknowledges that he used the book as one of the primary works when researching his momentous history of Napoleon.After a brief look at NapoleonOCOs youth and early career Wartenbu..."

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.

Written by a major military historian, this book discusses topics such as: the historical circumstances and political conditions of the contending adversaries, the strategic thinking and the personalities of the military commanders, the tactical maneuvering on the field of battle, and the role of armaments and technology.

Austerlitz was the battle that established Napoleon's reputation- a classic example of the general's masterly use of deception to lure his enemy into a carefully devised trap. Beginning with the bold and crushing advance of the French Army from the Rhine to the Danube, David Chandler describes the envelopment of Mack's army at Ulm, the manoeuvres to Austerlitz and the counter-attack that resulted in the decisive defeat for the Austro-Russian Army. Excellent overview illustrations of the battlefield at Austerlitz supplement the text by clearly showing the movements of the opposing armies. A comprehensive guide to one of the most important battles of the Napoleonic Wars.

This volume chronicles the events that climaxed on the field of Austerlitz in one of the most famous battles of history. Most accounts of the campaign have until now been based almost exclusively on French sources, but following extensive research in the Austrian archives Ian Castle is now able to provide a far more balanced account. The Battle of Austerlitz is, after Waterloo, probably the most famous land battle of the Napoleonic Wars. It was the first campaign which Napoleon waged as Emperor of France and the first great test for his Grande Armee after years of preparation in the 'camps of Boulogne'. At the end of August 1805, even before Nelson's crushing defeat of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar rendered the invasion of England impossible, Napoleon was issuing orders for his army to march into Germany. Reports had reached him from his spy network that Austria and Russia were preparing to take the field against him. In a masterpiece of strategic maneuver he isolated the Austrian army under General Mack around Ulm and forced it to surrender.

Renowned for its accuracy, brevity, and readability, this book has long been the gold standard of concise histories of the Napoleonic Wars. Now in an updated and revised edition, it is unique in its portrayal of one of the world's great generals as a scrambler who never had a plan, strategic or tactical, that did not break down or change of necessity in the field. Distinguished historian Owen Connelly argues that Napoleon was the master of the broken play, so confident of his ability to improvise, cover his own mistakes, and capitalize on those of the enemy that he repeatedly plunged his armies into uncertain, seemingly desperate situations, only to emerge victorious as he blundered to glory. Exploring this neglected aspect of Napoleon's battlefield genius, Connelly at the same time offers stirring and complete accounts of all the Napoleonic campaigns.