Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars

This work contains an unprecedented wealth of over 550 full-colour illustrations, including specially commissioned uniforms, battle plans and campaign maps. It is an expert guide to the weapons, equipment, deployment, tactics and motivation of the national forces of the day, as well as fascinating detail of the day-to-day life of a Napoleonic soldier. It is an unrivalled reference to the insignia, appearance and experience of the fighting men of the period. The book's main focus is the soldiers who fought the historic battles of the day, and the uniforms they wore. It was in this age of war that military uniforms flourished, with an astonishing array of flamboyance, colour and intricate detail. The cut and colour of uniforms were used for identification from afar by the generals directing battles from strategic viewpoints, but at this point in time were also given an extraordinary level of detail in facings, laces and buttons, which carried never-ending intricate differences to denote regiment, rank or division. With over 550 specially commissioned and expert colour artworks, each regiment is vividly portrayed here in all their glory.All the major nations involved in the conflict, France, Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia, are covered in detail, and there is a section on the uniforms and contributions of the smaller forces, including those from America, Spain, Italy and Saxony.

Digby Smith was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, in 1935. He spent three years in India prior to the Second World War and another in Pakistan in 1948, following his army family around the globe. He joined the army as an apprentice tradesman in 1951, and in 1961 was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals and spent over 10 years in Germany. From 1970 he was part of the German Federal Armed Force. He resigned from the army in 1979 and until 1995 worked in logistics and customer services in the computer and IT field. In 1995 he began to compile the Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. His books include Armies of the Napoleonic Era, Navies of the Napoleonic Era (David & Charles); Armies of 1812, Armies of the Middle East (PSL); Napoleon's Regiments, 1813 Leipzig, and the Battle of the Nations (Greenhill Books). Many of his earlier works were published under the nom de plume of Otto von Pivka.

This book brings a highly eventful period of European history to life, chrinicling the battles, campaigns and skirmishes of the conflict and the political triumphs and declines of the combatant forces.

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