For those that like novels based on military history, check out James R. McDonough's "The Limits of Glory." Overall, a pretty good book.

I've had this recommended by a couple of friends. It's out of print isn't it? What particularily did you like about it?

Yeah. It is out of print. I borrowed it from the library.
I liked a couple of things about it. First, I liked how the workings of an army are described. For example, we all know Napoleon was a great commander. But what most of us don't know, apart from those of us who read military monographs, is the role of other officers, such as chiefs of staff. This book does a great job of demonstrating that the success of a military force relies in great part on the abilities of officers such as the chief of staff (as well as the commanders of corps, brigades, etc.).

For example, I liked how Marshall Soult was chosen to be chief of staff and how he felt that he was not qualified for that type of job. In other words, he was a good field commander but did not have an aptitude for organizing and keeping track of details. Berthier was Napoleon's CoS previously but he died before Waterloo.

Also, the portrayal of Blucher's CoS, Gneisau (sp?) was great.

Second, I liked the interactions between officers, subordinates to superiors and vice versa and peer to peer as well as how officers who nominally hold equal or superior rank interact with officers with more lofty connections/titles.

I also liked the descriptions of the various engagements that were part of the Waterloo conflict, i.e., LeHaye Saint, Hougemont, Plancenoit, etc. Just very cool.

A lot of the conversations and how characters felt was fictional or fictionalized but that stuff made the men who fought there come alive, gave them personalities.

I would say it is almost as good as "Killer Angels."




[Edited by Yrth on 05-14-01 at 07:34 PM]

That's pretty good company to be in. I'll definately add this to my list.

Thanks!