Austerlitz 1805: The Fate of Empires

by Ian Castle

Book Overview

This all-new volume chronicles the events that climaxed on the field of Austerlitz in one of the most famous battles of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). Not only was it the first campaign that Napoleon waged as Emperor of France, but also the first great test for his Grande Arm e. The Emperor himself regarded it as his greatest victory and it undoubtedly won him a mastery of Europe that would remain unbroken for almost a decade. Most accounts of the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1841761362
• ISBN13: 9781841761367
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK)
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 9.7" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Good introduction of 96 pages...

This book provides a very good introduction to the campaign for its short 96 page length (can be read in about an hour and a half to two hours). The author starts by providing an analysis as to the geopolitical, diplomatic and military situation prevailing immediately before the battle. A very good succint description is also given regarding the state of armies involved (i.e., experience, morale), their officers, and highest levels of military leadership of each side. Then the book goes about describing how the battle unfolded. The conclusion includes a more than adequate "aftermath" section discussing the consequences of the battle from a diplomatic and military perspective. In terms of illustrations the maps showing how the battle unfolded are quite good. There are also plenty of contemporary drawings and plates showing various scenes from the battle. Nearly all of these are black and white. The one weakness of the book is that there are no color plates on equipment or soldiers' kits hence the book is not a very good reference for figurine builders (although there are a few black and white drawings of troops that illustrate how they "typically" looked).

Solid brief discussion of one of Napoleon's masterpieces

Now, conjure this image. A commander looks into the future and guesses at his enemies' moves. He leaves high ground for the enemy to move onto and hold. He places a weak force on his right flank to lure the enemy off the heights to attack this enticing sacrificial lamb. Then, with his forces hidden behind another rise, he attacks the heights abandoned by the enemy to pierce their center and "roll up" both flanks. Key question: How could anyone be so stupid as to do what this prescient commander foresaw? The Allied forces at Austerlitz, lured into a pretty transparent trap by Napoleon, the commander who "foresaw." Austerlitz was one of Napoleon's masterpieces. This Osprey Publishing volume provides a nice, brief, well illustrated view of this battle. Want more detail? Consider something like Robert Goetz' "1805: Austerlitz." This battle marks the sad end of a Coalition designed to defeat Napoleon. Through a series of bad choices, such as appointing the flawed Field Marshal Mack as head of the allied forces, there was already a record of defeat (at Ulm) before Austerlitz. However, the allies--primarily the Russians and the Austrians--did not wish to give up and regrouped for battled. This book, using information from both the allied side and from French sources, addresses how Napoleon's vision of the battle came about and how it unfolded. There are a series of key points in the battle: the dramatic and timely arrival of a portion of Davout's corps; Bagratian's stern defense of the Allied right flank; the perhaps undermanned assault on the Pratzen Plateau by the French (they had additional forces available); etc. There are many quite helpful maps, to show the movement of forces by both sides. There are attractive paintings of the battle and a few photographs of key features of the landscape (e.g., the Pratzen Plateau). At any rate, if you want a brief overview of Austerlitz, this does nicely. If you want a detailed analysis, this is not the place to go. Consider other works such as Goetz' (already mentioned).

Good Beginning

Austerlitz 1805: Battle of the Three Emperors (Osprey Military Campaign Series, No. 2)by David G. Chandler is a good start for anyone who wants to learn more about the Austerlitz campaign and Napoleon's rise to European ascendency. The author, David Chandler, is one of the recognized experts on Napoleon and for that reason alone the book is worthwhile.It is written in the traditional Ospery style and is very readable. The weakest part of the book is the discussion of the effect of the battle and the historical place that it holds. However, that might be a structural fault of the Ospery format.There are numerous holes in the battle description which can be explained by the limited space avaliable. However, if one wants an overview in order to put more extensive histories into context, this is a good place to start.

Good Start

Austerlitz 1805: Battle of the Three Emperors (Osprey Military Campaign Series, No. 2)by David G. Chandler is a good start for anyone who wants to learn more about the Austerlitz campaign and Napoleon's rise to European ascendency. The author, David Chandler, is one of the recognized experts on Napoleon and for that reason alone the book is worthwhile.It is written in the traditional Ospery style and is very readable. The weakest part of the book is the discussion of the effect of the battle and the historical place that it holds. However, that might be a structural fault of the Ospery format.There are numerous holes in the battle description which can be explained by the limited space avaliable. However, if one wants an overview in order to put more extensive histories into context, this is a good place to start.

A Qualified Improvement

In 1990, Osprey published Campaign #2 Austerlitz 1805 by the renowned Napoleonic expert Dr. David Chandler. Now twelve years later, Osprey Campaign #101 by Ian Castle returns to the scene of Napoleon's greatest battlefield triumph. Inevitably, the two volumes will be compared and so far they are the only Osprey campaign series titles to cover the same subject. Naturally, the question arises on whether this new volume is, in fact an improvement. The short answer is...a qualified yes. This review will attempt to examine Austerlitz 1805 both on its on merits and in comparison to Chandler's earlier volume. Austerlitz 1805 begins in standard Osprey format with short sections on the road to war, opposing plans, campaign chronology, opposing commanders and opposing armies - a total of 18 pages. Unfortunately, these opening sections are rather weak even by summary standards. In the plans section, Castle makes virtually no mention of French dispositions for war (e.g. Marshal Massena in Italy), the near-simultaneous Trafalgar campaign or why Napoleon chose to make his main effort in Bavaria instead of Italy, as the Austrians expected. The section on leaders is absurdly top-heavy, covering only Napoleon, Tsar Alexander I, Emperor Francis I and Kutuzov; Napoleon's key subordinates like Soult, Lannes and Murat are only mentioned in the battle narrative. Now in comparison to Chandler's earlier volume, Castle's volume virtually apes the master in these opening sections, sometimes paragraph by paragraph. Indeed, Castle's volume is clearly inferior to Chandler's in terms of background material. However this disparity begins to shift once the campaign narrative begins, because this is where Castle has put virtually all of his new material. Castle covers the preliminary Ulm campaign and the approach to Austerlitz in 17 pages, one page more than Chandler. The battle narrative itself is 42 pages, compared to 34 pages by Chandler. There are also a total of five 2-D maps (strategic plans of the 3rd Coalition, French advance to the Danube, Ulm encirclement, Austerlitz pre-battle dispositions, and the Treaty of Pressburg) and four 3-D "Birds Eye View" maps (Soult's assault on the Pratzen Heights, Lannes and Murat versus Bagration's advance guard, the attack of the Russian Imperial Guard and the retreat across the frozen ponds). There are also three excellent battle scenes: the fighting at Telnitz, charge of the Russian Guard cavalry and the Allied retreat across the frozen ponds. There is little doubt that the maps and artwork are of far higher quality than in Chandler's earlier volume, but of course Osprey has evolved over twelve years. The main value of Castle's revised Austerlitz 1805 lies in the greater detail provided on the four main aspects of the battle: Soult's seizure of the Pratzen Heights, the cavalry-infantry actions in the north, the Russian Imperial Guard counterattack and the Allied retreat. Castle knows the battlefield terrain well and