I am really astonished that the books mentioned here are mostly the "classic" campaign studies, whereas books of the "New Military History" concerned with e.g. the social history as their main focus do not appear. The best book of this kind, in my opinion, still is Rory Muir's "Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon".

I just finished reading Philip Dwyer's third volume of his Napoleon bio, it's titled Passion, Death, and Resurrection 1815-1840. It's typical Dwyer: great research, beautiful writing, and constant sniping at Napoleon.

Highly recommended.

Napoleon and Russia by Michael Adams is one of my favorite books on the Napoleonic Era written in English.

Adams writes beautifully and his battle descriptions are great. He also provides a useful bibliographical essay.

Best book for me? Usually the one I'm reading right now (Andrew Field's Rout and Retreat by the way) because I love the sense of discovery.

Ugo Pericoli's 1815: Armies at Waterloo was the one that got me into the period, and over 40 years later I still dip in and out of it. Jac Weller's Wellington at Waterloo swiftly followed.

Currently, Gareth Glover's Waterloo: Myth and Reality and Charles Esdaile's Walking Waterloo: A Guide are both neck and neck for me.

Yes, you might detect a theme with a certain June Sunday in Belgium!

David

Best books about the Napoleonic Wars are for me without any doubt

Béraud, Stéphane : La révolution militaire napoléonienne, volume one - Les Manoeuvres, editeur Gionvanangeli, 2013

and

volume two - Les batailles, Gionvanangeli 2013

I am longing for the publication of the next volumes.

Until I read A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars by Vincent J Esposito and John R Elting I was a firm admirer of the British Army of the period. That book changed my mind and admiration to the Grande Armee. Along with Col Elting's Swords Around a Throne and his four volumes of Napoleonic Uniforms, they are my favorite books on the period which is packed with excellent volumes, past and present.

I recently read Jenny Uglow's wonderful In These Times about what we would now call Britain's Home Front in the Napoleonic Wars and, as a result of that Thomas Hardy's The Trumpet Major. Compared to Hardy's better known novels like Tess or the Mayor of Casterbridge this work is lighter in both tone and plot. Indeed he describes it as a romance which is what it is, the plot being about the lovely miller's daughter, Anne Garland and her interactions with three young men in a village on the south coast as the country braces itself for invasion. Written in the 1880's the Napoleonic Wars were then as distant as the Second World War is from us now and offered similar drama and interest to Hardy's generation. One can occasionally sense that Hardy is drawing on a series of stories from local newspapers, anecdotes passed down by elderly people who had experienced the Wars, diaries and other sources - indeed there were accusations of plagiarism shortly after publication. Yet I felt it offered a vivid picture of the primarily rural society and countryside of the England of its day and Hardy certainly researched his history very carefully. Some of the more military aspects covered include the impact of the militia, the pressures to volunteer whether by land or sea, the workings of the press gang (much more complicated than I suspected), the mechanics of sounding the alarm, evacuating the population and mobilising resources such as foodstuffs and transport. I recommend The Trumpet Major not just as an historical novel but also as a piece of history in its own right. And unlike Tess or Jude you are not the edge of your seat with hundreds of pages of incipent tragedy - though the ending is a little ambiguous in terms of 'happy ever after'!

I have to agree with Mark's recommendation of Roger Knight's "Britain Against Napoleon", although it was a slog even for me in parts, but I don't think there are many other people who could make the British bureaucratic underpinnings of the conflict come alive so well! I can't believe nobody else has mentioned Rory Muir's "Britain and the Defeat of Napoleon", which admittedly only covers the war from 1807 but is possibly one of my favourite history books ever. But then I come at the war from a slightly different angle from straight-up military historians.

It depends what you mean by best. To get people interested, a book must be readable and create a mental image of the events, so Sharpe and many French memoirs fall into that category, despite a (let's be kind) loose connection with the truth. As above, Chandler's Campaigns has stood the test of time as a readable survey, which sets out a good framework. If you want good research, then the four volume Krieg 1809 makes objective use of a mass of Austrian and French material. One favourite of mine is Blanning: The Origins of the French Revolutionary Wars, which dispels a lot of the nationalist mythology.

My interest in the Napoleonic Era is focused on the Peninsular War. The key text IMO is Oman’s, History of the Peninsular War. All seven volumes can be found online at sites like Gutenberg. For those who commute or enjoy audiobooks, there is an independent narrator recording all seven volumes. The first four are available on Audible ble, he’s recording the fifth volume currently. I support him via Paetron. His nom de plume is Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot.

Oman was meticulous in including French, British, Portuguese and Spanish sources. He corrects many of Napier’s errors and biases. There are extensive appendices with details of each army strengths, losers etc, documents such as the Convention of Sintra.

I’m currently reading Charles Esdaile’s New Peninsular War book, after reading his Napoleons Wars. (also available as an audiobook)

I’m very pleased to see this website, might I suggest that the text currently posted be re-checked for accuracy, I’ve come across a few spelling errors, and some factual, for example the battle of Bussaco discusses the Anglo-Dutch forces, when it should be Anglo-Portuguese.

Getting back to the books. Last year I attended a a guided tour of Belarus 1812 and 1941 with The Cultural Experience. Not an option for everyone I know but it confirmed my view that tours are great at fixing impressions in the mind. Also, sitting on the coach, you have time to catch up on the reading that you did not quite finish before you reached the airport. I strongly recommend the recent works by Adam Zamoyski '1812, Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow' and Dominic Lieven's 'Russia Against Napoleon' which covers the Russian view from 1812 until they reached Paris. Zamoyski contributes an epilogue discussing the impact of the war on Russian society and particularly the Decembrists of 1825 - I recall that my O and A level history teaching drew no attention at all to the impact of war - one did not discuss that sort of thing in the 1960's. And of course, Caulaincourt's memoirs, often quoted but one suspects not read as often as they should be. Zamoyski is also good at putting a context to the literary works like War and Peace and the characters in them. It is an impression of mine, which may be false, that in the UK and USA we spend rather too much time looking at Wellington and not enough on the eastern front where the big campaigns were fought. WW2 studies have moved on from the 1970's where we only looked at Alamein and D-Day; the importance of the eastern front is now fully recognised by scholars. Does a similar realignment need to take place in Napoleonic studies? Having lit the fuze I shall now retire...

I am delighted to see this website and forum yet suggest that the colour image on the home page - I think the 28th at Quatre Bras though I may be wrong - gives a false Anglo-centric impression. May I plug for a rotating series of images which feature particularly the Austrians. Not the most successful opponent of French expansionism but surely the most tenacious and persistent.

Andy, I know what you mean about Ciudad Rodrigo. If you turn round you can still see the redoubts the Allies built after they took the town. You can see them on Google earth

I have a question about a book. I found a non military history friend thumbing through my copy of Chandler's Campaigns of Napoleon (he had recently visited Corsica) and asking if it was any good?!! I replied that it was the standard work in its day but was unsure of its position now. Comments?

The book which got me really engaged was Jac Weller's Wellington at Waterloo and then in the Peninsular. Photographs of the real battlefields and buildings!! I have been twice to Wellington's battery positions at Rodrigo (which will surely be built over soon) and get a tingle in the spine looking down at the breach and the shot damage on the church tower.

For me, it has to be Richard Holmes's 'Redcoat'. I fondly remember reading it when I was younger, and it was assistive in inspiring my interest in the period and the wars! Of course, there is a whole bibliography I could contribute, Muir, Esdaile, Woolgar et al most definitely amongst them! I'm interested to see what everyone else chooses!

hi Zack and team good luck with your new venture. Agree with Andy, Rory’s book on Salamanca is the standard for modern writers of military history. Apart from my own book 😀, Roger Knight’s Britain Against Napoleon

I was highly impressed with Rory Muir's book on the Battle of Salamanca. It is a book about a battle but is also a book about battles and writing about them. It questions the very way that this has been done and whether the model for writing about them is valid, even, by inference, remotely truthful. Andy Grainger