Marengo 1800: Napoleon's day of fate (Campaign)

Osprey produces a variety of series of books on military matters. One series is "Campaign." This volume examines Napoleon's victory--a close affair--at Marengo, in Italy, in 1800. Immediately before his Italian campaign, fought against Austria, he had been thwarted in Egypt.This volume, as others in the "Campaign" series, examines several issues--the leaders, their armies, opposing plans and maneuvers, the order of battle, and the culminating battle (or battles). Austrian leaders are described with a mini-biography (e.g., General Melas, Kaim, Zach, Batorkez,and Futak). French leaders? Napoloeon Bonaparte himself, as well as Generals Berthier, Lannes, Victor, Massena, and Desaix.The story of Marengo begins with the siege of Genoa, in which the Austrians besieged a force led by Massena, who ultimately surrendered before French forces could relieve him (the order of battle for the siege is depicted on page 29). A poor start to the campaign. . . .The story also tells of Napoleon's forces moving forward against the Austrians. The preliminary battle was at Casteggio-Montebello (order of battle on page 50 and a useable map of the conflict on pages 42-43). The French were roughly handled and defeated in this fight presaging Marengo.Marengo began with the Austrians trying to take the initiative and--again--handling the French forces roughly (order of battle on pages 62-64; maps of different phases of the battle on pages 55, 70, and 74-75. To buy time to avoid defeat, Napoleon sacrificed his Guard. Pages 86-87 and page 91 outline Napoleon's last gasp counterattack--which succeeded. In the end, a sanguinary victory for the French, when ther battle could easily have gone the other way.A couple interesting pieces to this book at the end: wargaming Marengo and how the battlefield stands today.All in all, a nice addition to the Osprey Campaign series.

Superb. I own many Osprey titles and typically the writing is very poor as well as the presentation of information but this one must be one of their few best. Even the Leipzig title, which is well written and with useful material is not quite as good as this one. This is mainly because of the way the battle is compared to the present day field. The many photographs of the current battlefield and the survey of it makes you feel as if you are actually there on tour. The rest of the book is sound and well organized. It helps that the present field is little altered, and that Marengo is a campaign and battle that are easy to understand. Still, one of the best Osprey titles and worth owning if you have an interest in Napoleon's campaigns.

I recently used this book on a visit to Marengo battlefield (June 2005).Well illustrated, excellent maps and photos. "The Battlefield Today" section was unusual feature, as was the "Wargaming" section.Unfortunately, the battlefield is in a suburban/urban area of Italy. A few landmarks are visible, but few are easily accessible. In June of 2005, the museum was closed for "repairs". Americans used to well preserved battle sights such as Antietam or Gettysburg will be disappointed.This book is not for those without previous knowledge of military history/organization. The maps are complicated, not all abbreviations/acronyms are defined. Trying to follow the narration with the maps can be very difficult.At the actual sight, matching pictures from the text to the local area was a challenge. It would have been helpful if the author had marked picture sights to a map of the Marengo area.I agree with previous reviews that this account gives the Austrians more credit and coverage than many other previous works. The general sense is a closely fought battle, with the Austrians overextending themselves in pursuing the French after initial success.

As anticipated

In 1800, Napoleon returned to Italy, scene of his first military triumphs as a young general. He came this time as First Consul and leading figure in the French government. In a wide-ranging campaign across northern Italy, French armies clashed repeatedly with Austrian forces, culminating in the Battle of Marengo. Marengo is considered one of Napoleon's great victories, but in this account, it is revealed to have been a closely-fought battle."Marengo 1800" is an Osprey Campaign Series book, authored by David Hollins with illustrations by Christa Hook. It opens with a brief introduction to the state of the wars of Revolutionary France, followed by discussions of the opposing commanders, their armies, and their plans. The campaign rightly gets the bulk of the coverage, including the key Battle of Casteggio-Montebello, which set the stage for the encounter at Marengo. Marengo itself is a challenging narrative, as the tide of battle swung back and forth between French and Austrian forces. The wargaming chapter at the end actually has a nice summary of the battle. Recommended as a good introduction to the battle itself and to the rising career of Napoleon.

I'm a history enthusiast, a teacher and I am particularly interested in the Napoleonic period.I bought this book some time ago - when I first read it, I found it dry as dust and gave up. I recently tried to read it again, with the same outcome. The book is poorly written and even more poorly edited. This is particularly the case when one compares it with other (much better) published books on Marengo.It's filled with sentences like: "Victor's division marched across the plain, reaching the road fork, north-east of Cascina Grossa, around 4pm Gardanne's division was dispatched up the old road, supported by Chamarlhac and the 11e Hussars to attack O'Reilly's line, but Dampierre with part of the 44e and the 12e marched down the new road which would take them over Fontanone and behind the Austrians." Sentence after interminable sentence reads like this. A long grey list of roads, place names and disembodied surnames.The editing is poor and the text has sentences that switch between past and present tense with grammatical abandon - "With a frightful shout, Guenand led his infantry down the rise...the French infantry are soon amongst the Austrian troops"-Yet the book has been available for decades – which leads me to question whether the editors have actually read it during all those long profit-generating years?The only victor at Marengo appears to be Osprey's bank coffers.

Prodotto perfettamante in linea con l'annuncio e consegna perfetta.