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1809 THUNDER ON THE DANUBE: Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburgs, Vol. II: The Fall of Vienna and the Battle of Aspern | 
 enlarge | Author: John Gill
Publisher: Frontline
Category: Book
List Price: $60.00
Buy New: $37.80
You Save: $22.20 (37%)
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Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 92450
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 512
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.7
ISBN: 184832510X
Dewey Decimal Number: 909
EAN: 9781848325104
ASIN: 184832510X
Publication Date: December 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 3 weeks
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Product Description
In the second volume of this epic work, John H. Gill traces Napoleon's progress as he sought to complete his victory over the Habsburgs. The war had erupted on April 10th with Austria's invasion of Germany and Italy. After just two weeks, Napoleon had battered the Habsburg Archduke Charles in a series of bruising defeats. This volume begins with a Napoleon astride the Danube at Regensburg. He faced a critical strategic choice - whether to pursue the injured Austrian main army into Bohemia or march directly for Vienna, the seat of Habsburg power.After electing to target Vienna, his troops defeated the Austrians in the brutal Battle of Ebelsberg, allowing him to enter the city on May 13th. But meanwhile, on the far side of the Danube, he suffered a dramatic loss at the grueling, two-day Battle of Aspern. While his Danube forces recovered from this setback, the Emperor cleared trouble from his strategic flanks.Gill describes in vivid detail the hopeful Habsburg invasion of Italy, led by the 27-year-old Archduke Johann, and the fierce French counter-offensive under Napoleon's stepson, Eugene de Beauharnais (also 27). In a series of encounters across Italy, Eugene rebounded from initial defeat to advance triumphantly into Austrian territory, shattering and scattering Johann's army. In the wake of Aspern, while the Austrians vacillated, Napoleon gathered every man, horse and gun around Vienna, setting the stage for the gigantic spectacle of the Battle of Wagram, the final chapter in the story of the 1809 war.
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| Customer Reviews:
The best account yet December 20, 2008
Col McFetridge (Houston, Texas, USA)
Col (Ret) John Gill has offered us the first part of a full treatment of the Austrian Campaign of 1809. The research is exhaustive with extensive and detailed footnotes containing many interesting nuggets of information. The bibliography amply confirms his command of the historical resources. The maps are relatively small in size but adequate and numerous. This later is factor often ignored by military historians who do not realize how easily a reader becomes lost in troop movements and maneuvers without a visual reference. Col Gill understands the terrain and movement as a professional soldier and intelligence officer would. But best of all, his writing style is lively and interesting with a good blend of annecdotes to give context to what could otherwise become a long, tedious journey. The 1809 campaign was a pivotal moment in Napoleonic history and saw the first clear defeat of Napoleon on the battlefield. Yet, it has not received the attention it deserves - until now. If the rest of John Gill's 1809 trilogy are as good as this first volume, he will have produced the definitive treatment of the subject.
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