Having very much enjoyed the two books by James Arnold that I already have (Crisis on the Danube, about the opening phase of the 1809 campaign in Bavaria, and Crisis in the Snows, about the 1807 Eylau campaign), I recently took advantage of a pair of Amazon gift cards that my older daughter gave me at Christmas and Father's Day to acquire three more of Mr. Arnold's books.
His newest book about the Spring 1813 campaign, Decision at Bautzen, will have to wait for another time (and more funds)! All are available directly from the author at Napoleon Books.
This is the revised and expanded 2nd edition; evidently the 1st edition suffered from a lack of maps, which were a strong point of his first book. That is not the case in this 2nd edition.. I got the paperback version, and have already read it while I was on vacation at the beach earlier this week. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Mr. Arnold writes very clear and engaging prose. It includes a good description of the battle of Ebelsberg, and excellent descriptions and analysis of the pivotal battles of Aspern-Essling and Wagram. All are filled with interesting and illuminating tidbits from both sides, The battles of the Army of Italy at Sacile, The Piave, and Raab are covered in less detail, as is Poniatowskui's battle of Raszyn. Znaim is covered on bruiefly in passing. The book includes detailed Orders of battle, listing the units involved with the number of battalions or squadrons, but no actual strengths. As in the earlier volume, Mr. Arnold gives a succinct but very useful accounts of the diplomatic front as well. His analysis of the battles and Campaign as a whole is another strong point. Recommended, although if you want more detailed OOB's with unit strengths, and coverage of the lesser actions, Gill's 1809 trilogy (plus his earlier "With Eagles to Glory") is a better choice. However that's really comparing apples and oranges big time. One note of warning: reading this book will make you want to collect Austrian armies and play 1809 wargames, but that's a good thing, right?!
The sequel to Crisis in the Snows, of course! With 2017 coming up, this is a priority for me to read next! I am especially interested in the battles preceding Friedland, which often get short shrift.
The Marengo campaign I am pretty familiar with, but I know little about Hohenlinden, so I am looking forward to this one as well!
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