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The Napoleonic Wars

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The Napoleonic Wars

By: Alexander Mikaberidze
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
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The Napoleonic Wars saw fighting on an unprecedented scale in Europe and the Americas. It took the wealth of the British Empire, combined with the might of the continental armies, almost two decades to bring down one of the world's greatest military leaders and the empire that he had created. Napoleon's ultimate defeat was to determine the history of Europe for almost 100 years. From the frozen wastelands of Russia, through the brutal fighting in the Peninsula to the blood-soaked battlefield of Waterloo, this book tells the story of the dramatic rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire.

©2020 Alexander Mikaberidze (P)2020 Recorded Books 19th Century Military Modern War Imperialism Africa Royalty British Empire Middle East Napoleon Bonaparte Middle Ages Russia Latin American Self-Determination Interwar Period
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This is not a Military history despite being called the Napoleonic Wars. If you are looking for a Military history this is most definitely not for you. I think the book should have been much more realistically called the Napoleonic Era: a Global History.

It is a comprehensive examination of the global situation leading up to and during the Napoleonic period. It convers the economic. social, and political landscape of the major powers, and many, such as the Middle Eastern, and South American powers.

The book is very interesting once you realise what is not. I think the author likes to side with the less widely held views, but he does give a fair bit of information so if you don't agree you can look it up easily and decide. His assessment of the significance of Trafalgar is a good demonstration of this. The claim it was not as important because Napoleon rebuilt the navy to a paper strength close to what it had been before the battle, totally misses the point that a raw navy without much sailing or gunnery experience would never be the equal of a veteran elite force. In many places he states the Royal Navy's complete domination of the seas had a significance, which undermines the claim for Trafalgar.

I leant a lot about what was going on in this era from the book and am glad i listened to it. As an Audible member I was able to borrow it for free. If I had bought it I would have felt very let down.

Not What it seems!

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Recommended for anyone looking for a concise history of the napoleonic wars. Well read and written

Great book

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If you like 19th century history this book should be on your list. It is both well written and expertly delivered by the narrator. The material has been meticulously researched, but doesn’t have too many stats and figures to leave you bogged down and fatigued.

A Fascinating History of the Early 19th Century

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Mispronounced names and places was rather jarring, Persia substituted with Iran? In fact the whole Middle East was named with current day nations

The depth

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This is precisely the history of the Napoleonic Wars I've been looking for - giving the diplomatic and political context for the events and battles, and a truly global perspective on the what's, whys, and so whats. I'll be picking up a hard copy to go back and revisit key areas, as well as check the maps and index.

Sadly, the narration rendered this almost unlistenable. The guy has a good voice, but his intonation is totally off - emphasis in all the wrong places, every third sentence pronounced as if what's being revealed is somehow surprising (whether it is or not), and often using a sing-song tone that'd be more appropriate for a children's comedy. I had to whack the speed right up to try and offset it - but this is precisely the kind of thing where I'd have preferred an AI voice to a human one, sorry to say.

Excellent book, terrible narration

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