The Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War
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The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1 violently changed the course of European History. Alarmed by Bismarck's territorial ambitions and the Prussian army's crushing defeats of Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866, French Emperor Napoleon III vowed to bring Prussia to heel. Digging into many European and American archives for the first time, Geoffrey Wawro's The Franco-Prussian War describes the war that followed in thrilling detail. While the armies mobilized in July 1870, the conflict appeared 'too close to call'. Prussia and its German allies overwhelmingly outnumbered the French. But Marshal Achille Bazaine's grognards ('old grumblers') were the stuff of legend, the most resourceful, battle-hardened, sharp-shooting troops in Europe. From the political intrigues that began and ended the war to the bloody battles at Gravelotte and Sedan and the last murderous fights on the Loire and in Paris, this is a stunning, authoritative history of the Franco-Prussian War.
- Miltary history at its best, with vivid accounts of battle
- Written by an esteemed historian and television personality
- Spans the period between 1815 and 1914
Reviews & endorsements
"The brief, seldom discussed but crucial Franco-Prussian war gets its due in Wawro's gripping narrative history and analytic tour de force." --Publishers Weekly
"Wawro has...taken up the challenge, drawing on a wide range of sources to offer a brisk, readable, and sharp account.: --Foreign Affairs
"Wawro has written an extraordinary history of the Franco-Prussian War, one of the most significant wars in modern European history...Highly recommended." --Choice
"This is an extraordinarily luminous book about not only a war but also a continent and a century. Written with verve and wit, The Franco-Prussian War harnesses scholarship and story-telling to wonderful effect. Geoffrey Wawro has given us a magnificent yarn." --Rich Atkinson, author of An Army at Dawn and winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for History
"Wawro's [book] is so much fun to read...an excellent read for professional and interested public alike." Canadian Military History Book Review Supplement
"Wawro's [book] is so much fun to read...an excellent read for professional and interested public alike." Canadian Military History Book Review Supplement
"An insigtful account of one of perhaps the most critical European war of the period between the Waterloo and the 'Guns of August'...a readable, often detailed account..." - The NYMAS Review, A.A. Nofi
"Military historians will be delighted by the appearance of this clear, well-written and effective operational history of the war...[Wawro] deserves congratulations for his fine narrative." Renaissance Quarterly
"Wawro has...taken up the challenge, drawing on a wide range of sources to offer a brisk, readable, and sharp account." Foreign Affairs
Product details
- Published: August 2003
- Format: Hardback
- ISBN: 9780521584364
- Length: 344 pages
- Dimensions: 236 × 160 × 29 mm
- Weight: 0.626kg
- Contains: 18 b/w illus. 13 maps
- Availability: Available
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Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Causes of the Franco-Prussian War
- 2. The armies in 1870
- 3. Mobilization for war
- 4. Wissembourg and Spicheren
- 5. Froeschwiller
- 6. Mars-la-Tour
- 7. Gravelotte
- 8. The road to Sedan
- 9. Sedan
- 10. France on the brink
- 11. France falls
- 12. The peace.
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