Peninsular Eyewitnesses

Peninsular Eyewitnesses PDF

Author: Charles Esdaile

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2008-09-30

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1844151913

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Many books have been written about the British struggle against Napoleon in the Peninsula. A few recent studies have given a broader view of the ebb and flow of a long war that had a shattering impact on Spain and Portugal and marked the history of all the nations involved. But none of these books has concentrated on how these momentous events were perceived and understood by the people who experienced them. Charles Esdaile has brought together a vivid selection of contemporary accounts of every aspect of the war to create a panoramic yet minutely detailed picture of those years of turmoil. The story is told through memoirs, letters and eyewitness testimony from all sides. Instead of generals and statesmen, we mostly hear from less-well-known figures - junior officers and ordinary soldiers and civilians who recorded their immediate experience of the conflict.

Napoleon's Polish Gamble

Napoleon's Polish Gamble PDF

Author: Christopher Summerville

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2005-09-30

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 184415260X

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Napoleon's 1807 campaign against the Russians came close to being his first defeat. At Eylau the Emperor was outnumbered by the army of the Russian commander Bennigsen, yet he accepted battle. His reputation was saved by the flamboyant Murat, who led one of the greatest cavalry charges in history. Christopher Summerville's gripping account of this bitterly fought clash and of Napoleon's subsequent triumph at Friedland is the first extensive study of the campaign to be published for a century. The story is told in the concise, clear Campaign Chronicles format which records the action in vivid detail, day by day, hour by hour. Included are full orders of battle showing the chain of command and the fighting capabilities of the opposing armies.

In Peace and War 1933-1948

In Peace and War 1933-1948 PDF

Author: Tadeusz Bączkowski

Publisher: Helion

Published: 2019-02-28

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781912866014

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Captain Bączkowski's extraordinary memoirs, those of a young Polish cavalry officer, covers his life story from childhood to his great wish of becoming a cavalry officer being fulfilled a few years before the outbreak of World War 2. His idyllic life was shattered by the German invasion on 1st September 1939. The crux of the memoirs are his wartime experiences during the Polish 1939 Campaign when he commanded a bicycle platoon in the 19th Lancers Regiment, taking part in the well-known Battle of Mokra when the Volhynian Cavalry Brigade held up a German Panzer Division. Following the fall of Poland, he escaped across the mountains into Hungary from whence to France to join the reforming Polish Army. After the collapse of France, he was evacuated with the remnants of the Polish Army to Britain to continue the fight against Nazi Germany. He saw service in Scotland and then joined the British Army in West Africa as part of a scheme where 400 Polish officers received short time commissions in the British Army. On his return to the Polish Army he was posted to the 1st Armoured Division and took part in the North West Europe Campaign. His story ends with his decision to remain in exile after the Soviet takeover of Poland in 1945, service with the Polish Resettlement Corps and first tentative steps in creating a new life in London. His love of horses forms a continuous theme throughout his life.

The Napoleonic Wars 1803-1815

The Napoleonic Wars 1803-1815 PDF

Author: David Gates

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2011-06-08

Total Pages: 459

ISBN-13: 1446448762

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Known collectively as the 'Great War', for over a decade the Napoleonic Wars engulfed not only a whole continent but also the overseas possessions of the leading European states. A war of unprecedented scale and intensity, it was in many ways a product of change that acted as a catalyst for upheaval and reform across much of Europe, with aspects of its legacy lingering to this very day. There is a mass of literature on Napoleon and his times, yet there are only a handful of scholarly works that seek to cover the Napoleonic Wars in their entirety, and fewer still that place the conflict in any broader framework. This study redresses the balance. Drawing on recent findings and applying a 'total' history approach, it explores the causes and effects of the conflict, and places it in the context of the evolution of modern warfare. It reappraises the most significant and controversial military ventures, including the war at sea and Napoleon's campaigns of 1805-9. The study gives an insight into the factors that shaped the war, setting the struggle in its wider economic, cultural, political and intellectual dimensions.

The History of Poland

The History of Poland PDF

Author: M. B. B. Biskupski

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2018-09-07

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1440862265

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This book is an engaging explanation of the complicated history of Poland, one of the least well-known countries in Europe. Poland, which has one of the strongest economies in the European Union, has faced significant turmoil throughout the years. Encapsulating centuries of development, this book distills Poland's historical evolution into patterns, including those that have developed since the first edition was published nearly 20 years ago. The book begins with an overview of contemporary Poland, providing both basic information about the geography, culture, and current political climate of the country while tying these to major contemporary issues. This introduction is followed by chapters discussing Poland's long history, starting with the 10th century. The second half of the book presents a history of Poland in the 20th and 21st centuries, covering the major issues affecting the country and offering possible interpretations of them. This updated and revised edition accounts for recent events in Poland and examines the effects of the Polish diaspora globally.

The Polish Lancer: Or, 1812

The Polish Lancer: Or, 1812 PDF

Author: Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig Rellstab

Publisher: Legare Street Press

Published: 2022-10-27

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781018480565

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Starring Madame Modjeska

Starring Madame Modjeska PDF

Author: Beth Holmgren

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2011-11-10

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 0253005191

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The “important . . . meticulously researched” prize-winning biography of the pre-eminent Polish star of the nineteenth century global stage (CosmopolinReview.com). In reintroducing “a little-remembered actress to a new American audience” biographer Beth Holgram delivers a revelatory portrait of Helena Modjeska—from unparalleled European success to her reign as the most acclaimed, and most recognized female celebrity in the late nineteenth-century United States. In 1876, Poland’s leading actress, Helena Modrzejewska, accompanied by her husband, the self-stylized Count Bozente, emigrated to southern California to give up her career and establish a utopian commune. In light of its failings, it hardly fulfilled the real dreams of Madame Helena. Within a year, she changed her surname to Modjeska, and made her American debut at San Francisco’s California Theatre. Godmother to Ethel Barrymore, and sharing the Shakespearian stage with such luminaries as Otis Skinner, Edwin Booth, and Maurice Barrymore, Helena Modjeska became the leading star in the United States, where she reigned for the next thirty years. In this “Impressive . . . achievement,” Holmgren traces Modjeska’s fabulous life and career from her illegitimate birth in Krakow, to her successive reinventions of herself as a trans-continental diva, and finally to her enduring legacy (Women’s Review of Books). All in all, Starring Madame Modjeska “makes for great drama” (NewPages.com).