Most historians agree that the Carolingian Age, from the 8th to the 10th Century AD, represented one of the most important turning points in European history. It can be said with some certainty that early Carolingian military success was built on good leadership, adequate administration, and troops whose morale was almost consistently superb. It is also clear that the Carolingian army managed to adapt itself to face many and differing foes. This absorbing text by David Nicolle explores the organization and history of the Carolingian Empire during the age of one of history's most romanticised...

France was to call up a total of 1,600,000 men during the Napoleonic Wars, of whom a mere 600,000 were to survive. For those conscripted into service, one of the better fates would be recruitment as a cavalryman. Napoleon's dragoons were not just any band of individuals sorted and labelled cavalrymen; they were mounted infantrymen, trained to be adept with both musket and sabre, and proud of that distinction. Originally mounted for the sake of mobility but generally fighting on foot, they evolved into an army equally at home sabring at the charge as firing dismounted.

Owing to the heavy casualties suffered by the Carabiniers in the 1809 campaign, the Emperor decreed that they should be armored to the same advantage as the Cuirassiers. In this way the two corps drew together in being the only troops of the Grande Armee who were armoured, while at the same time they diverged in breaking away from their traditionally similar dress. Emir Bukhari does a splendid job of examining the uniforms and equipment of Napoleon's Cuirassiers and Carabiniers of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), in a text complemented throughout by numerous illustrations and diagrams...

The Christian armies of the various crusades were not only composed of several nationalities, but were raised by a variety of methods. For example, in the early crusades men of all ranks and from all over Europe took the cross and went to fight Islam as Volunteers.

The imaginative strategic plan of Revolutionary France to cut Britain's lifeline to India by seizing Egypt and the Levant was an epic adventure, set amongst some of the most ancient places of history, then almost unknown to Europeans. The conflicts proved once again the supremacy of the British fleet and furthermore that a reformed British Army was a force to be reckoned with. This fascinating book by Michael Barthorp provides an outline of the campaigns and examines in greater detail the armies which marched and fought amid the desert sands and relics of earlier civilisations.

In the summer of 1804, the eagle was chosen as the symbol of the French Army by Napoleon himself. The Emperor's sculptor, Chaudet, made the original model, and from this were cast bronze copies in the workshop of Thomire, which would be proudly borne into battle by many a French regiment. This fascinating work by Terence Wise explores in depth the flags, colours and guidons of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), concentrating on France and her allies, and covering every faction from Baden to Wurzburg. This book is a must for anyone interested in this fascinating topic."

Typically the United States is said to have declared war on Great Britain in 1812 because of the Royal Navy's impressment of American seamen and the British desire to create an Indian buffer state. An Englishman William Cobbett, described the real cause of the conflict: 'There seemed to be wanting just such a war as this to complete the separation of England from America; and to make the latter feel that she had no safety against the former but in the arms of her free citizens.' Regardless of the reasons, however, on 4 June 1812, U.S.President James Madison, asked Congress to declare war.

Almost continual warfare raged in Europe during the period 1300-1500. These wars were the furnaces in which many of the modern European nations were forged. Parallel with this emergence of the nations came the development of national armies to protect the newly-won borders and independence, yet throughout this period the old feudal method of raising an army persisted. This fascinating study by Terence Wise explores the organization, weapons and equipment of the armies who fought across Medieval Europe, from the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)to the fight against the Moors in Spain, and the...

Napoleon's Hussars made their first real impact in 1806 with their astonishing pursuit of the Prussians over 1,160km from the river Saale to the Oder in twenty-five days. They then capped this feat on arrival when, by dint of audacious demonstrations by the 500 men of the combined 5th and 7th Hussars, the 6,000-strong Prussian garrison was bluffed into capitulating its fortress at Stettin along with 160 cannon. This splendid volume by Emir Bukhari describes the organisation, war records, dress and equipment of these most colourful of Napoleon's troops.

In the Sudan in 1881 an obscure son of a carpenter pronounced himself the Mahdi or Guided One of the Prophet, the long-expected Messiah of the Islamic faith. His influence was so strong that Egypt (co-ruled by Britain and France) was plunged into war. Robert Wilkinson-Latham provides an absorbing account of the Sudan campaigns, including the siege of Khartoum, the unpredictable General Charles Gordon, and the Nile Expedition. The author details the organisation and fortunes of all forces involved, painting a fascinating picture of the place and its peoples from 1881 98."