"Napoleon's Apogee: Pascal Bressonnet's Tactical Studies 1806" Topic

How do you rate this book? I heard good things about it.

link

Thanks in advance.

I bought it as a Christmas present for myself – and it is an absolutely beautiful book. If you are interested in the 1806 campaign it is well worth the money. My only complaint would be that it doesn't come in a slipcase (and that it turns out to be 1/4" taller than the shelf on my bookshelf where I keep all the other big Napoleonic books).

Yes, highly recommend!

Cheers!
Beeker

I really enjoy this book!!!
John Miller

It is my favorite book that we ever did; the Bressonnet maps are superb, but I was really proud of the tactical diagrams we fashioned, which are somewhat unprecedented in showing the absolute sweep of Napoleonic combat (and make for an interesting comparison for those interested in tabletop battle modeling).

At any rate, if you order the book from our website, type in NAP1806 for a special $65 USD off. Act decisively, lol, as the offer won't last too much longer!

It also has a huge impact on my thinking about wargame rules. More on that as we move forward.

One of the best studies I have ever read. This volume helps bring a very detailed analysis on the battles and opening of the campaign. Having walked the battle twice (and receiving the book 4-5 months following my last walk), I can really visualize everything so well.

You cannot go wrong with this study if you are a fan of the 1806 campaigns.

MattDLM,

tried putting the code in but it says it can't find the item. It's obviously there, but if the discount offer applies I will definitely buy a copy. Information gratefully received.

It is excellent and beautiful. Apart from two German studies about the same time, it is the best around, certainly in English.

There are weaknesses, though. One is that it was written in French and all the Prussian accounts have been translated into French by Bressonet @1900, then translated into English for the the Military Press. I have many of the German texts that Bressonet used and the double dose of translations have lost some things. For instance, all references to Prussian schutzen, skirmishers, and Fusiliers in light infantry actions are uniformly translated as 'tirailleurs'.

And the book is big, so using it for reference other than the coffee table becomes a chore.

Minor issues when the study is finally available in English with illustrations and maps.

It is an excellent study, very well done in English, and is a keeper.

It adds greatly to a personal Napoleonic library and is a great aid to research on the campaign and the period.

B

"It also has a huge impact on my thinking about wargame rules. More on that as we move forward."

Ooooh – please enlighten us – I ahve always been a fan of your design thinking – would be very interested to hear of new thoughts!!!

Thoroughly recommended as a definite standard work in English for the 1806 Campaign. Certainly solved a lot of mysteries for me. Not perfect, as suggested above, but pretty damn close.

The other thing nobody has mentioned (including me) are the beautiful pictures in the book by Steven Palatka. I've looked on the Net but I can't see that he has released any prints anywhere for sale. Is this the case?

If you can read it in French, here is the original work (free on-line):
link

- Sasha

I can't see it free online Sasha – any idea what I might be doing wrong?

Regards

Whirlwind,

Strange, it is working for me (just checked), I followed Sasha's link and then clicked on "Full View" underneath "Viewability".

Cheers,

The Bandit

For me it just says:

Viewability:

Limited (search only) (original from University of California)

Whirlwind,

I fear you are not geolocated in the USA.
Search for "free proxy" and try one in the USA.

Sidenote: The images of the pages have filenames in the form of sequential numbers. Once you are seeing all the pages, one might write a little a script to run through them one-by-one, save the images and then assemble them into a .pdf or whatever. (Well, you can do this in *nix, I don't know about Microsoft). This takes quite a bit of time, through which you must have a consistent internet connection, and might *not* work through a free public proxy server.

- Sasha

I also own it and would add my own 'highly recommend' to you.

BTW, Queen Louisa's portrait (page 22) dressed in a Hussar uniform is jaw dropping. I don't know if it's artistic license or not, but I don't care.

Kevin, et al…thanks for the kind words.

Insofar as the queen's portrait is concerned, when I approached Steven Palatka to do a portrait of Louisa, I asked him to study Myrbach's "Affair of the Rose" and the famous Grassi portrait to get the queen's best facial features, and then to do his best "Vargas" work. The result is a portrait wonderfully done. Matt Delamater was kind enough to give me the framed original, which hangs in my office.

How does it compare to Petre?

Incomparable. This is a tactical study.

Thanks Sasha, I'll give it a go.

Regards

Echo all the previous positive comments. I think it's fantastic. I only wish, as Bill H. pointed out, that I had an electronic copy of it so I could print out copies of some of the diagrams to look at sequential illustrations (maps, diagrams, etc.) side by side. The volume itself is so beautifully done that it has to handled with some care. However, that is a VERY minor gripe with an outstanding volume.

Cheers,

Tom

Try:

PDF link (12 MB)

I am unable to access the MHP online bookstore to order this book, and another I want- can anyone provide a working link to a page where one can make an order? Thanks..(I am in the US)

militaryhistorypress.com

See if this one works. I just accessed it.

B

How does it compare to Petre?

I found it a very good complement to the Petre. It also goes well with Napoleon's Finest Davout and his 3rd Corp.

The volume has very good production values and the maps are far superior to Petre's.

I'd actually recommend this book and feel it is an excellent value.

a pity that Pascal Bessonnet did die before he could read

Jany : Die Gefechtsausbildung der Preußischen Infanterie von 1806
Mit einer Auswahl von Gefechtsberichten
Berlin 1903

The book by Jany is a very nice complementation to Bressonnet discussing in detail Prussian infantry tactics and their development.

Jany : Die Gefechtsausbildung der Preußischen Infanterie von 1806Mit einer Auswahl von Gefechtsberichten
Berlin 1903

Yes, A book I'd love to see translated into English.

Thanks Oliver.

Me too. More translations cannot but help our understanding.

I just picked up On Campaign in the Age of Napoleon, completing my set of the MHP limited edition series. None of them are bad, all of them are… well, all of them are extremely nice, with that said, Napoleon's Apogee might be the best of the bunch to-date, though I'd be hard pressed to give up any of them.

Cheers,

The Bandit

Janys book about the cavalry is equally excellent, one clearly comprehends why the Prussian cavalry failed so badly in 1806.