Frederick W. Kagan's Napoleon and Europe, The End of the Old Order: 1801-1805

[Louis-Philippe]

Hello, I am an eighteen year old college major in History (future specialization in either Byzantine Studies, Early Modern Europe/17th and 18th centuries, or Nineteenth Century Studies), and a minor in German Philosophy (Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich von Schiller, Schelling, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Immanuel Kant, Liebniz, Friedrich Nietzsche, etc.)

Two years ago I had purchased a dense book on the geostrategic and geopolitic settings of the scene of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars. Since my purchase, I have read the book Napoleon and Europe, The End of the Old Order: 1801-1805 by Frederick W. Kagan three times and I am currently reading it for the fourth time. First, I find diplomatic relations as a fascinating topic; I especially admire the Eighty Years' War: 1568-1648 and the Thirty Years' War: 1618-1648 due to the complex interactions of the specified time period and of the diplomatic relationships amongst the belligerents of the two wars. I have analyzed in depth the Peace of Westphalia: 1648 and of its principle components, as well as the diplomatic concept of "Westphalian Sovereignty" as a means of political equilibrium or the maintenance of equipollence. I also enjoy the reactionary concepts behind the Congress of Vienna and all the interrelated facets of the whole.

As for the book by Frederick W. Kagan, the first volume in a four part series, stresses the tense and portentous years from 1801-1805. It begin with the Treaty of Luneville and the fugacious Peace of Amiens. The modes of government in the book deals with the French Triumvirate (Consulate) of Cambaceres, Lebrun and Bonaparte to the coronation of First Consul Bonaparte as Emperor of the French, Napoleon I Bonaparte and King of Italy. References throughout the book are made to Dietrich Heinrich Bulow, Baron Antoine Henry de Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz for military theory and the interrelationships of warfare with political, social and economical factors.

Frederick W. Kagan utilizes footnotes extensively as well as not limiting himself to a single viewpoint but accepting multiple viewpoints in his first volume of both the great powers and the multitudinous minor powers of the time from 1801-1805. Frederick W. Kagan utilizes both primary and secondary sources so as to establish a coherent unity of thought in his emendations and general plan of thought. Overall, I recommend this book to those who are strongly passionate on the Napoleonic Era and of the complex interactions that occured between the numerous states of Europe. However, this book requires a certain degree of historical comprehension of the Napoleonic Era and requires great analysis and critical thinking methodology as in the study of the courses of action for the prelude to the War of the Third Coalition, the strategic plans and the consequences of the conflict at hand. Furthermore, this book is heavily illustrated with maps of continental Europe from 1801-1805 and the strategic routes of the numerous European powers during the conflict.

[scout1067]

Welcome to the board.  My specialty is 18th and 19th century Prussian Military History.  We could have some interesting discussions.