The Napoleonic Wars (4): The fall of the French empire 1813-1815

By Gregory Fremont-Barnes

This volume covers Napoleon's gradual fall from power, beginning in the spring of 1813, when France prepared to face the vengeance of Russia and Prussia. Quickly raising new armies composed of inexperienced conscripts and invalided veterans, and with a critical shortage of cavalry, Napoleon resolved to preserve his empire in Germany, where he initially managed to achieve some hard-fought victories. When at last Austria threw in her lot with the Allies and the epic Battle of Leipzig followed, Napoleon was forced to retreat across the Rhine, there toresist the onslaught on home soil. The pressure against him proved too great, and with Paris lost and his marshals refusing to fight on, no option remained but abdication. Yet his last battle, and one of the most decisive in military history, was still to come: Waterloo.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing Ltd
• Release date: May 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781472809872

Gregory Fremont-Barnes

Gregory Fremont-Barnes is Senior Lecturer in War Studies at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He has previously lectured around the world and holds a doctorate in Modern History from Oxford. He has written widely on military history, and currently lectures at Sandhurst on the conduct of the Falklands War. He lives in Surrey.

Reviews for The Napoleonic Wars (4)

[bruderbane · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“The Napoleonic Wars (4): The Fall of the French Empire” by Gregory Fremont-Barnes is the final book in Osprey’s Essential Histories Napoleonic Wars series and is an excellent brief overview of the final years of the Napoleonic Era. Mr. Fremont Barnes is quite succinct in getting to the heart of the battles, their dynamics, individual players including personal tribulations and foibles. That he is able to accomplish this task in such a quick and concise manner while being informative and entertaining is a grand sign of an accomplished historian. Personally I would rather that Mr. Fremont-Barnes had reconstructed a different early nineteenth century city rather than London, perhaps Paris, but that’s me being nitpicky.