This richly detailed account reveals how Sir Ralph Abercromby's strategy restored the honour of the British army and averted disaster for the Empire.
In 1800 the British army's reputation was in tatters, having experienced nothing but failure in wars across the world for forty years. At home, a divided cabinet had to face the problem of Egypt, which had been occupied by Napoleon's Army of the Orient since 1798.
The momentous task of ejecting France fell to a disparate band of soldiers led by Sir Ralph Abercromby, an elderly general with a dubious military record. Yet, against all the odds, Abercromby's force decisively defeated the French army on 21 March 1801, bringing Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign to a definitive and crushing end.
Piers Mackesy vividly brings to life the events of the battle and the characters involved, revealing how Abercromby's carefully planned and brilliantly executed strategy, and the discipline of the soldiers he had welded into cohesion, restored the honour of the British army, averted disaster for the Empire, and set the standard by which all future battles would be fought.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Piers Mackesy's account of the British campaigns in Egypt in 1801 is classic military history, a fine narrative based on high scholarship. -- John Keegan Mackesy has here written military history of the best sort; humane, perceptive and above all full of the sense of men taking difficult decisions under extreme stress. * Times Literary Supplement * A clear, readable account of an exciting and momentous campaign, Piers Mackesy's study reclaims for the historical page an episode wrongly consigned to the footnotes and restores to the pantheon a forgotten Scottish hero. * The Scotsman * Based on extensive and wide-ranging research this is an excellent campaign history that simultaneously covers an important campaign and throws light on the potential and limitations of warfare in the 1800s . . . Aside from its scholarly interest and value, Mackesy's book is well written . . . exciting and enlivening. -- Jeremy Black, author of 'War in History' . . . military history at its best, humane, engrossing and related with great verve and style . . . yet another superb account which blends Mackesy's unique understanding of military matters and how human beings operate under strain - quite outstanding. -- John Charmley By consulting every conceivable printed authority, French and English, and a quantity of new manuscript material, Mackesy has been able to give a colour and a richness to his account absent from any that have gone before, and he has made of it not only a very good 'read', as they say, but thoroughly sound history besides . . . a worthy recipient of the Templer Medal. * Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research * Piers Mackesy . . . does full justice to the tale . . . his knowledge of the sources is awe-inspiring . . . he writes clearly, and vigorously. * Books in Scotland * A fine example of classic military history based upon high scholarship and fine discussion . . . Mackesy has written a definitive study. -- David G. Chandler * International History Review * What Piers Mackesy has given us here is military history of a high order, clear in its detail, and meticulously based on archival research. * Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society *
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Zielgruppe
Maße
Höhe: 130 mm
Breite: 196 mm
Dicke: 22 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-7556-4301-1 (9780755643011)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Piers Mackesy is Emeritus Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of The War for America, Statesmen at War and War Without Victory, among others. He was awarded the Templar Medal for British Victory in Egypt.
List of Maps and Tables
Introduction
Preface
Part I: Forging an Army
1 'Sir Ralph Is Not a Courtier'
2 A Look at John Turk
3 The Forging of The Blade
4 Rehearsing Invasion
5 The Eve of Battle
Part II: Beach-Head
6 Assault Landing
7 'We Shall All Fare Alike'
8 'A Cool Intrepidity': The Mandara Battle
9 'We Must Make the Attempt'
10 Surprised in Darkness
11 The Battle in The Dawn
12 The Price of Victory
Part III: Breakout
13 'Ungracious Manners and A Violent Temper'
14 'Much More at Ease in His Command'
15 The Thrust on The Nile
16 The Verge of Mutiny
17 Onward to Cairo
Part IV: Honour Redeemed
18 Forty Centuries Look Down
19 The Final Manoeuvre
20 The Fall of Alexandria
21 The Achievement
22 'Abercromby's Soldiers'
Later Titles of the British Regiments
Notes
Guide to Citations
Index
