Book
Review:
Marengo 1800
By
David
Hollins
Artwork by Christa Hook
Marengo
is known as one of Napoleon Bonaparte's great battle victories,
but he came very close to suffering a major defeat at the hands
of the Austrians.
In
fact for all intents and purposes the French commander had lost
at Marengo - well, the first round anyway - and it was only the
11th hour arrival of General Louis Desaix that saw Bonaparte rally
his men and launch the telling counterattack.
This
title, Marengo 1800, is in the Campaign series from Osprey and
is pretty much an all-you-need-to-know coverage of the clash of
Austrian and French forces in northern Italy and the decisive
battle itself.
Author
David Hollins examines the opposing armies, from commanders down
to organisation, looks at Bonaparte's strategy, his move across
the Alps, the Austrian reaction and does so with excellent black-and-white
drawings and etchings.
Most
of the major commanders of both sides have portraits - very handy
for military history fans who like to put faces to names - and
there are excellent battle orders for the siege of Genoa, Montebello
and Marengo.
The
maps are exceedingly good and let you know at a glance the military
situation at various stages of the enterprise and there are 3D
aspects of the battlefield of Marengo.
Artist
Christa Hook has done some superb and atmospheric scenes of key
parts of Marengo that bring the battle to visual life.
In
addition there is a description of the battlefields today and
information and hints on wargaming Marengo.
Marengo
1800 is yet another first-class examination of a key Napoleonic
battle and is worth every cent.
-
Richard Moore
9/10
