The Frontier Sea: The Napoleonic Wars in the Adriatic
Dave Watson
Publisher: Shilka Publishing (24 July 2023)
Paperback: 182 pages
ISBN: 9781804430361
Most of the great powers contested the lands around the Adriatic Sea during the Napoleonic wars. While never a major theatre of operations, it was part of the overall strategy of most of the combatants. It had an essential role in the conflict, influencing alliances and diverting troops and ships, which all contributed to the defeat of Napoleon. It was also a period of significant change, with the French and British intervening in a region that had long been a battleground reserved for the Austrian, Russian and Ottoman empires.
This book examines the campaigns, armies, navies and personalities that fought in the region between 1797 and 1815. Campaigns rarely mentioned in the history of the period. Austrian, French, Russian, British, and their foreign regiments fought up and down the coast, sometimes with or against local leaders like Peter I of Montenegro and Ali Pasha of Ioannina. Many commanders were far from home, with orders taking weeks to reach them. This meant even junior officers could take military and diplomatic decisions usually reserved for more senior officers.
This is a story of strategy and small wars with many colourful personalities playing their part in a fascinating, if violent, tale against the backdrop of the frontier sea.
Author
Dave Watson was born in Liverpool and has been based in Scotland for the last thirty-two years. He lives with his wife Liz and Rasputin (the wargaming cat) in Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. He is the editor of the website Balkan Military History (www.balkanhistory.org), which has covered the military history of the Balkans for over twenty-three years. He has written for many magazines, journals, and online publications. A list of his publications can be found on the website, and hisblog, balkandave.blogspot.com.He is the author of 'Chasing the Soft Underbelly: Turkey and the Second World War' (Helion, 2023). In addition, he is a contributing author to the books 'A New Scotland' (Pluto, 2022), 'What Would Keir Hardie Say?' (Luath,2015), 'Keir Hardie and the 21st Century Socialist Revival' (Luath, 2019), and. several other current affairs books and publications.Dave is a graduate in Scots Law from the University of Strathclyde and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He retired in 2018 from his post as Head of Policy and Public Affairs at UNISON Scotland and now works part-time as a policy consultant and Director of the think tank the Jimmy Reid Foundation. His passions include wargaming, travel and golf. He is the secretary of Glasgow and District Wargaming Society-one of the UK's longest-running wargame clubs. You can also follow Dave on Twitter @Balkan_Dave.
here Ushakov in action
I have just finished thebook, and was a little disappointed. Although the title and blurb promise that the contents are about the war in the Adriatic, a substantial part of the book covers events elsewhere in the Balkans, far from the sea. While there is no doubt that the larger events of the Russo-Ottoman and Russo-French conflicts affected events in the Adriatic, the author's interests and attention seem as much focused on the conflicts on the Danube and the Principalities as on the maritime history of the area. The material that does cover the Russian, Ottoman, French and British naval operations is by and large accurate and useful, but lacking in detail. Hopefully someone will look at this interesting theatre of the wars to produce a more rigorous work, based more on primary sources
I am half through, at least for me, highly interesting, David is certainly no anglocentric 😉and covers not only the Brits, but amongst else also the Ottomans and the Russians.