"Military professional and historian John R. Elting paints an exciting, detailed picture of the magnificent human fighting force, Napoleon's Grande Armee. Colorfully details every facet of life in Napoleon's army including rations, pay, mud and disease, mobile hospitals, loot, camp followers, and more."
"This authoritative, comprehensive, and enthralling book describes and analyzes Napoleon's most powerful weapon -- the Grande Armee which at its peak numbered over a million soldiers. Elting examines every facet of this incredibly complex human machine: its organization, command system, logistics, weapons, tactics, discipline, recreation, mobile hospitals, camp followers, and more. From the army's formation out of the turmoil of Revolutionary France through its swift conquests of vast territories across Europe to its legendary death at Waterloo, this book uses excerpts from soldiers' letters, eyewitness accounts, and numerous firsthand details to place the reader in the boots of Napoleon's conscripts and generals. In Elting's masterful hands the experience is truly unforgettable."
'A masterpiece: quite simply, John Elting's fine book is the best I have ever read on the subject.'-David Chandler.
'The master has not lost his touch. Colonel Elting's Swords Around a Throne now takes first place among the books, in any language, on Napoleon's great military establishment, the Grand Army.'-Hugh Bonar.
'Without doubt, Colonel Elting has written the definitive work on the Grande Armee. And it is superb reading, by turns anecdotal, descriptive, or analytical, with narrative segments that roll like cavalry charges. Elting is a master historian.'-Owen Connelly.
'Col John Elting's book will immediately become the most authoritative volume in the English language on Napoleon's Grand Armee. This massive study is packed full of information and details about the creation and operation of each component of Europe's greatest army-from headquarters to the commissariat to the postal system. In all, a brilliant contribution of immense value to any scholar or buff of the Napoleonic period.'-Donald Horward.
'Colonel Elting, drawing on his vast experience both as a soldier and a military author, examines Napoleon's army from its revolutionary origins to the last days of the empire, looking at officers and men, the various arms and their equipment, administration and supporting services, as well as daily life in camp and on campaign. Based on massive research, Elting has written a definitive work that fills a major gap in the literature and will become must reading for military historians, buffs, and wargamers alike.'-Gunther Rothenberg.