1809 Thunder on the Danube Vol. 1

€ 25,00

GILL John H.: 1809 Thunder on the Danube. Napoleon’s Defeat of the Habsburg. Volume I: Politics, Strategies and the Road to Abensberg-Eggmühl
Englisch, 498 Seiten, 45 s/w-Abbildungen, 23 Karten, 5 Tabellen, Literaturverzeichnis, Register, broschürt

The Franco-Austrian War of 1809 was Napoleon’s last victorious war. He would win many battles in his future campaigns, but never again would one of Europe’s great powers lie broken at his feet. In this respect 1809 represents a high point of the First Empire yet at the same time Napoleon’s armies were declining in quality and he was beginning to display the corrosive flaws that contributed to his downfall five years later.

In this volume Gill tackles the political background to the war and the opening battles of Abensberg, Eggmühl and Regensberg. He explores the motivations that prompted Austria to launch an offensive against France while Napoleon and many of his veterans were distracted in Spain. Though surprised by the timing of the Austrian attack on the 10th April, the French Emperor completely reversed a dire strategic situation with stunning blows that he called his ‚most brilliant and most skilful manoeuvres‘. Following a breathless pursuit down the Danube valley, Napoleon occupied the palaces of the Habsburgs for the second time in four years.

Basing his work on years of primary research and battlefield visits, Gill provides a thorough analysis replete with spectacular combat, diplomatic intrigue and the illustrious cast of characters that populated this extraordinary age. The concluding volumes will take the war to its conclusion, including Napoleon’s first unequivocal repulse at the Battle of Espern-Essling, the titanic Battle of Wagram and the neglected struggle at Znaim that led to armistice.

Biographical Note:
A military historian specialising in the Napoleonic era, John H. Gill wrote the acclaimed With Eagles to Glory and edited A Soldier for Napoleon. He has contributed numerous papers to the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era. His 2009 trilogy 1809: Thunder of the Danube won critical acclaim
An associate professor at the Near South-East Asia Centre for Strategic Studies in Washington DC, Gill has published extensively on military history and contemporary security issues in India, Pakistan and South Asia
Gill received the John Elting Award from the Napoleonic History Society for his contributions to the study of Napoleonic history
A retired US army colonel, Gill currently lives in Virginia with his wife and two sons