The Grandest Battle

Napoleon’s military genius as a commander at war with Austria and Russia

In 1805, Napoleon and his Grand Army stood on the northern coast of France poised to cross the English Channel to invade England. To affect a successful landing the French required control of the narrow seaway which remained indisputably and infuriatingly dominated by the Royal Navy. Thus thwarted, the French Army turned about, marching eastwards towards the Danube. This book describes in thorough detail the brilliantly conceived and fought campaign that included the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2nd, 1805, which effectively ended the War of the Third Coalition with a decisive French victory. Indeed, Napoleon proclaimed it as his, ‘grandest battle’. When first published in 1905 this book was titled ‘A Hundred Years Ago: Battles by Land and Sea: Ulm, Trafalgar, Austerlitz’. This Leonaur edition has been edited to concentrate entirely on the land campaign to give the text greater focus for students of the campaigns of French Napoleonic armies. The role of undiminished British sea-power was strategically pivotal in the war against France, however the Battle of Trafalgar was fought after the campaign of 1805 had been launched and had no immediate influence upon it, so the centenary of the original publication to the naval battle is no longer relevant. This edition contains maps and illustrations which did not accompany original editions of the text.

Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.