@Geraint Thatcher HK Weiss's recommendation is absolutely correct. If you want access to a myriad of period publications that are useful for study and reference and in French, that is one way of being able to read and translate it.
It is difficult to study Napoleon, the Grande Armee and French military developments without a basic knowledge of French. It is also very useful to have both a French military dictionary and a 'regular' dictionary to hand, the earlier published the better.
@Kevin F. Kiley If only it is just French you need to study Napoleon, the Grande Armee and French military developments! It should be clear that the insufficient ability to read both French, English, German, Russian, Spanish, Italien ect. ect. played a nasty trick. To fully understand what happened in many corners of this fast continent more than just French is needed.
It is fine we have access to translationstools that can be found online.
Remember @Geraint Thatcher , there is a big difference between speaking and reading. There is also a difference between conversational or academic literary French and the kind of ‘military speak’ we are after.
We have to wait until a conference or a podcast before we expose our pronunciation to ridicule. It’s amazing how far you can get with a combination of Google Translate and a good dictionary. Beware though, I recall Fred MacAulay’s “Führer of the sausage people” address to the haggis translation!
Remember the (probably false) meme ascribed to President George W Bush “The problem with the French is they don’t have a word for entrepreneur”. Many of our accepted militarisms have migrated from French, from rendezvous to reconnaissance.
My advice is give it a go. Just don’t try to book a room or order dinner with what you learn!
Strange - I bought some books from them - though not living in the UK - I am a European living on the Continent, so why the UK is singled out - puzzles me.
You could try Interlibrary Loaning the book through your local library and Xeroxing it. A few US libraries own it. Only the British Library is listed in the UK as owning it in WorldCat, but you could still check with your local library, they might have different info.
You can find it in the original French here:
Opérations de 3e Corps, 1806-1807: Rapport Du Maréchal Davout, Duc d'Auerstaedt (French Edition): Anonymous: 9780270224924: Amazon.com: Books
or here:
Opérations de 3e corps, 1806-1807: rapport du Maréchal Davout, duc d'Auerstaedt : Louis Nicolas Davout : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
The book on Amazon is $29.95
The book you're looking for is selling on Amazon US for 255.00:
Napoleon's Apogee: Pascal Bressonnet's Tactical Studies 1806 - Saalfeld, Jena and Auerstadt: Bowden, Scott (trans).: 9780982270349: Amazon.com: Books
If I remember correctly, that was just about the original price when it was first published. I have a copy and it is definitely worth the money.
Thank you. Sadly though I cannot read French 😥
@Geraint Thatcher HK Weiss's recommendation is absolutely correct. If you want access to a myriad of period publications that are useful for study and reference and in French, that is one way of being able to read and translate it.
It is difficult to study Napoleon, the Grande Armee and French military developments without a basic knowledge of French. It is also very useful to have both a French military dictionary and a 'regular' dictionary to hand, the earlier published the better.
@Kevin F. Kiley If only it is just French you need to study Napoleon, the Grande Armee and French military developments! It should be clear that the insufficient ability to read both French, English, German, Russian, Spanish, Italien ect. ect. played a nasty trick. To fully understand what happened in many corners of this fast continent more than just French is needed.
It is fine we have access to translationstools that can be found online.
You can download and then print out the pdf - best investment in the long run, learning French.
Remember @Geraint Thatcher , there is a big difference between speaking and reading. There is also a difference between conversational or academic literary French and the kind of ‘military speak’ we are after. We have to wait until a conference or a podcast before we expose our pronunciation to ridicule. It’s amazing how far you can get with a combination of Google Translate and a good dictionary. Beware though, I recall Fred MacAulay’s “Führer of the sausage people” address to the haggis translation! Remember the (probably false) meme ascribed to President George W Bush “The problem with the French is they don’t have a word for entrepreneur”. Many of our accepted militarisms have migrated from French, from rendezvous to reconnaissance. My advice is give it a go. Just don’t try to book a room or order dinner with what you learn!
Geraint, try this link: https://www.militaryhistorypress.com/
Thank you but I've already tried them. They don't deliver to the UK 😔
@Geraint Thatcher
Strange - I bought some books from them - though not living in the UK - I am a European living on the Continent, so why the UK is singled out - puzzles me.
@Hans - Karl Weiß I tried to order there too. Obviously, the publisher is currently not delivering to Europe at all. Very strange...
You could try Interlibrary Loaning the book through your local library and Xeroxing it. A few US libraries own it. Only the British Library is listed in the UK as owning it in WorldCat, but you could still check with your local library, they might have different info.