Throughout her career as a medieval historian; Eileen Power was engaged on a book on women in the Middle Ages. She did not live to write the book but some of the material she collected found its way into her popular lectures on medieval women. These lectures were brought together and edited by M. M. Postan. They reveal the world in which women lived; were educated; worked; and worshipped. Power gives a vivid account of the worlds of the lady; the peasant; the townswoman; and the nun. The result is a historical yet intimate picture of a period gone by yet with resonances for today. An intimate portrait of the writer and social historian; by Maxine Berg; is also included.
#938419 in Books Michael V Leggiere 2015-05-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.98 x 1.10 x 5.98l; 2.24 #File Name: 1107080517498 pagesNapoleon and the Struggle for Germany The Franco Prussian War of 1813 Cambridge Military Histories Volume 1
Review
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful. A pastrami sandwichBy Joseph KeyThe last we heard from Mr. Leggiere was in 2007 when he published THE FALL OF NAPOLEON; one of the most unusual books of history I'd ever seen. It was volume 1 of a history on the 1814 campaign. Thus I was pleasantly surprised that instead of finishing the 1814 campaign he had moved forward to the 1813 campaign with a volume on the 1813 spring campaign. I have always felt that given it's importance the 1813 campaign had been given short shrift. The only worthwhile modern account was Nafziger's published in the late 90's; which I personally found somewhat lacking; falling in the something is better than nothing category. So I was excited when I saw that Mr. Leggiere was taking the campaign on.For want of a better term I consider Mr. Leggiere an academic historian who specializes in the Napoleonic Wars. An analogy is in order. Think of a good pastrami sandwich which has mounds of meat between two slices of bread. For your average military historian the meat is an account of battles; tactics and strategy. Armies and their makeup; and the leaders who led them and the soldier who fought. The politics and diplomatic events are the bread surrounding the meat. To Mr. Leggiere and others like him the meat is the diplomacy and politics of the period while the fighting is the bread. I find the politics and diplomacy of this period fascinating; though at times a bit tedious as you can't wait for the action to start. Diplomacy is often like watching sausage being made.The focus of this book is Prussia and it's attempt to lead the struggle for german liberation from the Napoleonic yoke; after Napoleon's disastrous failure in Russia gave his enemy's an opening they never thought would occur. His hero is Gerhard Scharnhorst the architect of the rebuilt Prussian army after the disaster of 1806. Scharnhorst was instrumental in cementing the alliance with Russia that was essential if Prussian was going to have an opportunity to defeat Napoleon.Despite it's focus on Prussia and german liberation Napoleon is given his due and almost equal time. This book is indeed an interesting addition to study of this campaign but not what I hoped would become the standard work on it. The book gets only four stars from me because it comes up short on the military end.For example one of the standard components of most military history's are a couple of chapters comparing the opposing forces early on. This book dispenses with that; which is rather shocking since both sides had to rebuild their armies from scratch. Napoleon lost his grand army in Russia and had to totally rebuild it in the early months of the year. Prussia's army had to be rebuilt almost from scratch after the strictures put on it by Napoleon after the Treaty of Tilsit. None of this is covered in the book. A word also must be said about the books maps; first on the positive side. There are six maps bunched together in the books front. Normally this is a big no-no for me; but unlike other authors that do this Mr. Leggiere has a note in the text indicating to the reader which of the maps in the front he needs to refer to. These six maps are there because they are referred to throughout the text. There are also many other well done maps spread through the text. But this is the other area where Mr. Leggiere falls short by having the military aspects the bread rather than the meat. The two great battles of Lutzen and Bautzen are each covered with two maps apiece of an operational nature showing the whole battlefields. Mr. Leggiere provides a good operational account of these battles but more military oriented readers may like to see more tactical details.This is the first of three volumes on the 1813 campaign; forget what you hear about this being a two volume work as a note in the next volume indicates that a third volume will be necessary; but I will deal with that in my review of the next volume.By the way this is not the first book published on the spring campaign this year. Earlier this year James Arnold privately published a book on the same campaign. Though covering the same subject the two books actually complement each other. Being a traditional military historian Mr. Arnold deals in more detail with the military stuff than does Mr. Leggiere. As that book is not listed on 's sight I will not go into more detail on it until it appears. Mr. Leggiere has still written a very good account of this campaign. If not the last word it will do until such a book arrives.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Struggle through the approach march and your patience will be rewardedBy Michael KnightsAs a reasonably nerdy student of Napoleonic military history and a wargamer I found this to be a book with two faces.The first face; much of the lead-up to Lutzen; was quite painful reading. Great scholarship; no doubt; but dull and heavy to fight through. The account of the maneuvering is very complete and really gives a sense how armies found and lost each other; and how generals commanded on the march. But you really need to fight through the wordage and in the absence of good maps it is not fun.The other face of the book is the quite stunning account of the battle of Lutzen. For a wargamer it is great stuff; not just in terms of understanding this specific battle but also for really digging down into the nuts and bolts mechanics of how Napoleonic battles really worked. It is also a great read on the state of the armies and commanders by 1813; which provides a lot of useful pointers to committed wargamers who want to tweak army lists and rules.A third of the way in I was cursing this book; but by the end I was glad I bought it and wanted more.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. GreatBy Bravo16Level of detail is a bit off putting at beginning; but shines when describing the battles. Most thorough depiction of Lautzen and Bautzen I have read. It does favor the Prussian-Russian side.
