Galloping into danger-on and off the battlefieldJean Baptiste Gazzola's memoir of his life in Napoleon's cavalry regiments is a remarkable and exhilarating one. He tells his story vividly-almost certainly with advantages-for it is one of passionate love affairs; attempted murder; duels; flight from retribution; hard campaigning and violent battles. This Italian centaur joined the Revolutionary French Army in the early days of Napoleon's career; for engagements in his home country before departing for Egypt-and thereafter many of the pivotal battles of the age culminating in the retreat from Moscow; where; left behind; wounded and frost-bitten; he ends his military career when taken into captivity by the Russians. Gazzola wins his first award as a member of the 'forlorn hope' at Mantua and then-donning the spurs of the horse soldier-he becomes a mounted grenadier of the Consular Guard. Service in Chasseurs a Cheval regiments follow before he once again joins the heavy cavalry of the Imperial Guard for the campaigns that closed the epoch of the First Empire. Whilst it is sometimes difficult to decide what may be fact and what fantastical-not an uncommon feature of the military memoir-there is no doubt that this is an absorbing and entertaining excursion into both the world and life of a cavalryman of the Grande Armee.
#1996519 in Books Osprey Publishing 2007-11-20 2007-11-20Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 249.68 x .19 x 7.25l; #File Name: 184603104464 pages9781846031045
Review
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful. NOT a book I'd recommend on Far East Military historyBy JCI always welcome people writing books about the Imjin War because there are so few of them available to English-speaking readers. However; this book is rather too specialized; not a good read for layman. I read about halfway thru and couldn't find it interesting enough to finish reading it.I would compare this Japanese castles in Korea 1592-98 something like a book of "Japanese defense in the Philipines 1941-1945". Is this something that a layman would spend his money and time to read ??Also; a lot of information overlap with his classic "Samurai Invasion (2002)" (NOT the 2008 edition). If you have the money in this rough economy; buy the 2002 version "Samurai Invasion".9 of 10 people found the following review helpful. Japanese castles' short life in KoreaBy lordhootStephen Turnbull's Japanese Castles in Korea is definitely one of these weird unknown subject matter that is worthy of Osprey's Fortress Series. In this short book; Turnbull managed to give a pretty good summary account of history of Japanese castles that were built during Hideyoshi's Korean invasion between the years 1592 to 1598. The book explained how these castles were built initially to support the invasion; support the supply lines; to control and policed the area around it and finally to support the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Korea after Hideyoshi's death.Stephen Turnbull managed to do all this in this short book with clarity and understanding that don't bogged the reader down. Turnbull also stated that Japanese castle designs at that time proves to be quite capable of withstanding the might of the Ming armies from China. From what I understand; lack of artillery consideration appears to be the major weakness of the Japanese military when defending their castles. Still; three major sieges of Japanese castles in Korea all ended with Japanese victories. And according to the author; the Japanese forces also adapted Korean cannons to their defensive lines as well.Interestingly; the author also spent few paragraphs describing how these castles were built and the hardships of the impressed Japanese peasants and Korean workers forced to worked on these fortresses. Brief outline of the war in Korea was given but the readers would have to wait for the Turnbull's Campaign series (Samurai Invasion of Korea 1592-1598) book coming out in July 2008 on the subject to get greater details or read a book already published by him on the subject (Samurai Invasion) that came out in 2004.Like all Osprey books; this book come well illustrated with very useful drawings and illustrations of these Japanese castles and their designs. Turnbull also inserted many black and white photos of the remains of these Japanese castles; mostly only their stone base remains while using castle parts from Japan to illustrated what they could have look like in Korea as well.Overall; this book covers a subject that is beyond the common knowledge of most people in the English speaking world and despite of the shortness of the book; I found this book to be utterly interesting in terms of information given.0 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A pick not just for military libraries but for any specializing in early Asian history.By Midwest Book ReviewStephen Turnbull's JAPANESE CASTLES IN KOREA 1592-98 is a pick not just for military libraries but for any specializing in early Asian history. The focus on Japanese-built castles and Korean fortifications follows the design and use of key fortresses and joins the publishers' 'Fortress' history series.
