The Fall of Napoleon: Volume 1, The Allied Invasion of France, 1813–1814: (Cambridge Military Histories)

This book tells the story of the invasion of France at the twilight of Napoleon's empire. With more than a million men under arms throughout central Europe, Coalition forces poured over the Rhine River to invade France between late November 1813 and early January 1814. Three principal army groups drove across the great German landmark, smashing the exhausted French forces that attempted to defend the eastern frontier. In less than a month, French forces ingloriously retreated from the Rhine to the Marne; Allied forces were within one week of reaching Paris. This book provides the first complete English-language study of the invasion of France along a front that extended from Holland to Switzerland.

Table of Contents:
1. The new Charlemagne; 2. Barbarians at the gate; 3. The Frankfurt proposals; 4. Napoleon and the French; 5. The left bank; 6. The right bank; 7. The lower Rhine; 8. The upper Rhine; 9. The middle Rhine; 10. Alsace and Franche-Comté; 11. The Vosges and the Saône; 12. Lorraine; 13. The Saar and the Moselle; 14. Belgium; 15. The Marne; 16. The Aube, Bourgogne, and the Rhône; 17. The protocols of Langres.

About the Author :
Dr Michael V. Leggiere is an Associate Professor of History at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. He received his PhD from Florida State University in April 1997 after studying at the Institute of the French Revolution and Napoleon under the direction of D. D. Howard. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Strategy and Policy for the United States Naval War College's Distance Education program, where he teaches strategy and policy during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. His book, Napoleon and Berlin: The Franco-Prussian War in North Germany, 1813 (2002), the first volume of the Campaigns and Commanders series, won the Societe Napoleonienne Internationale's 2002 Literary Award. Dr Leggiere has published numerous essays on various aspects of Napoleonic history, Prussian military history, and the German Wars of Liberation. His article, "From Berlin to Leipzig: Napoleon's Gamble in North Germany, 1813," which appeared in the January 2003 volume of the Journal of Military History, won the Society for Military History's 2004 Moncado Prize for Excellence in the Writing of Military History. In 2005 he received la Societe Napoleonienne Internationale Legion of Merit Award for Outstanding Contributions to Napoleonic Sciences.

Review :
"Leggiere has made a significant contribution to Cambridge's 'Military Histories' series. His book belongs in every military history collection, especially those that concentrate on the Napoleonic era." - Library Journal "The Fall of Napoleon is already a major work on the subject, and there's every reason to believe Volume 2 will be just as good." - www.europeanhistory.about.com