In this “engrossing,” (The New Yorker) vivid, and intensively researched volume, esteemed Napoleon scholar David Chandler outlines the military strategy that led the famous French emperor to his greatest victories—and to his ultimate downfall. Napoleonic war was nothing if not complex—an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of moves and intentions, which by themselves went a long way towards baffling and dazing his conventionally minded opponents into that state of disconcerting moral disequilibrium which so often resulted in their catastrophic defeat. The Campaigns of Napoleon is a masterful analysis and insightful critique of Napoleon's art of war as he himself developed and perfected it in the major military campaigns of his career. Napoleon disavowed any suggestion that he worked from formula (“Je n'ai jamais eu un plan d'opérations”), but military historian David Chandler demonstrates this was at best only a half-truth. To be sure, every operation Napoleon conducted contained unique improvisatory features. But there were from the first to the last certain basic principles of strategic maneuver and battlefield planning that he almost invariably put into practice. To clarify these underlying methods, as well as the style of Napoleon's fabulous intellect, Chandler examines in detail each campaign mounted and personally conducted by Napoleon, analyzing the strategies employed, revealing wherever possible the probable sources of his subject's military ideas. “Writing clearly and vividly, [Chandler] turns dozens of persons besides Napoleon from mere wooden soldiers into three- dimensional characters” (The Boston Globe) and this definitive work is “a fine book for the historian, the student, and the intelligent reader” (The New York Review of Books).

Table of Contents:
Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS EXPLANATORY KEY TO MAPS LIST OF MAPS PREFACE AUTHOR'S NOTE GENERAL INTRODUCTION PART ONE. APPRENTICESHIP TO ARMS Napoleon's military education and formative experiences prior to 1796 INTRODUCTION: FIRST EMERGENCE 1. PREPARATION 2. TOULON 3. BRIGADIER GENERAL OF ARTILLERY 4. THE "SWORD" OF PAUL BARRAS PART TWO. IN SEARCH OF A REPUTATION The Campaign in North Italy, April 1796 to April 1797 5. COMMANDER IN CHIEF 6. THE DEFEAT OF PIEDMONT 7. THE BRIDGE OF LODI 8. THE ACHIEVEMENT IN PERIL -- MANTUA 9. CALDIERO AND ARCOLA 10. RIVOLI 11. ADVANCE TO LEOBEN 12. THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS PART THREE. NAPOLEON'S ART OF WAR A study of Napoleon's philosophy of war, an analysis of his strategic and battle methods -- and the sources of his ideas INTRODUCTION: THE MASTER'S WORDS 13. DOCTRINAL INHERITANCE 14. THE INGREDIENTS OF NAPOLEONIC WAR 15. STRATEGIC CONCEPTS 16. GRAND TACTICS ON THE BATTLEFIELD 17. THE EMBRYONIC SYSTEM: CASTIGLIONE PART FOUR. ORIENTAL INTERLUDE: THE SIX ACRES OF LAND The Campaign in Egypt and Syria, May 19, 1798 to October 9, 1799 INTRODUCTION: THE SANDS OF MARABOUT 18. ORIENTAL OPPORTUNITIES 19. MEDITERRANEAN CHASE 20. THE PYRAMIDS LOOK DOWN 21. EXPEDITION TO SYRIA 22. THE BALANCE SHEET OF FAILURE PART FIVE. TOWARD THE SUMMIT: THE CONSPIRATOR AND PEACEMAKER The coup d'état of Brumaire and the Italian Campaign of 1800 23. THE RIPENED FRUIT 24. FIRST CONSUL 25. PLANS OF CAMPAIGN 26. THE PASSAGE OF THE ALPS 27. MARENGO 28. PEACE RESTORED PART SIX. THE WORKS OF PEACE AND THE ROAD TO WAR Napoleon's reconstruction of France and the renewed struggle with England to the formation of the Third Coalition. The creation of La Grande Armée 29. RULER AND LAWGIVER 30. THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE 31. PROSPECTS OF WIDER WAR 32. LA GRANDE ARMÉE 33. IMPERIAL HEADQUARTERS PART SEVEN. FROM THE RHINE TO THE DANUBE Napoleon's destruction of the Third Coalition INTRODUCTION: THE EVE OF AUSTERLITZ 34. PLANS AND PREPARATIONS 35. STRATEGIC TRIUMPH -- ULM 36. THE WARRIORS OF HOLY RUSSIA 37. THE BATTLE OF THE THREE EMPERORS -- AUSTERLITZ 38. THE INGREDIENTS OF SUCCESS PART EIGHT. ROSSBACH AVENGED The Campaign of 1806 against Prussia 39. HOHENZOLLERN HYPOCRITE 40. PLANS FOR WAR 41. "LE BATAILLON CARRÉ" 42. JENA -- AUERSTADT 43. THE TRIUMPH ANALYZED PART NINE. WINTER WAR Napoleon's Campaigns in East Prussia and Poland, October 1806 to February 1807 44. THE ADVANCE TO WARSAW 45. MEN AND MAT201;RIEL 46. THE MANEUVER ON THE NAREW 47. INTERLUDE IN WARSAW 48. THE TRAP THAT FAILED -- IONKOVO 49. THE BATTLE OF EYLAU 50. CONCLUSIONS: THE FIRST CHECK VOLUME II PART TEN. SPRING RECOVERY The renewed Campaign against Russia, culminating in the Battle of Friedland and the Treaty of Tilsit 51. RECONSTRUCTION 52. THE BATTLE OF HEILSBERG 53. THE BATTLE OF FRIEDLAND 54. THE MEETING OF THE EMPERORS PART ELEVEN. PENINSULAR INTRIGUES The Campaigns in Portugal and Spain, 1807-1809 55. THE ROAD TO LISBON 56. AN ENGINEERED CRISIS 57. BAILEN AND VIMIERO 58. HARD BARGAINING AT ERFURT 59. IMPERIAL INTERVENTION 60. THE PURSUIT OF MOORE 61. INCOMPLETE ACHIEVEMENT PART TWELVE. HAPSBURGS RESURGENT: THE LAST SUCCESS The Danube Campaign of 1809, culminating in the Battle of Wagram and the Peace of Schönbrunn 62. THE NEW CHALLENGE 63. CRISIS ON THE DANUBE 64. ASPERN-ESSLING 65. THE SECOND ATTEMPT: WAGRAM 66. THE ILLUSION OF SUCCESS PART THIRTEEN. THE ROAD TO MOSCOW The first part of Napoleon's Russian Campaign, June 22 to September 15, 1812 67. THE BREAKDOWN OF THE FRANCO-RUSSIAN ENTENTE 68. WAR PLANS AND PREPARATIONS 69. THE INVASION OF RUSSIA 70. BORODINO PART FOURTEEN. RETREAT The second part of Napoleon's Russian Campaign, September 16, 1812 to January 1813 71. PRECARIOUS POSITION 72. COLLAPSE OF AN ARMY 73. THE BEREZINA 74. BACK TO THE ELBE 75. FAILURE OF A GIANT PART FIFTEEN. TWILIGHT: THE STRUGGLE OF THE NATIONS Napoleon's attempts to hold Germany and destroy the Allies, culminating in the heavy defeat sustained at the Battle of Leipzig 76. NEW ARMIES 77. LÜTZEN AND BAUTZEN 78. THE ARMISTICE 79. DRESDEN 80. THE BATTLE OF THE NATIONS 81. BACK TO THE NATURAL FRONTIERS PART SIXTEEN. "LA PATRIE EN DANGER" The Campaign of 1814, culminating in Napoleon's abdication 82. PLAYING FOR TIME 83. A PARLOUS OPENING 84. RAPID RECOVERY 85. THE ECLIPSE OF SCHWARZENBERG 86. CHECK IN THE NORTH -- LAON 87. THE LAST GAMBLE: ARCIS AND ABDICATION PART SEVENTEEN. THE CAMPAIGN OF THE HUNDRED DAYS Napoleon's return from exile and the events leading to his final abdication INTRODUCTION: MEETING AT LE CAILLOU 88. RETURN OF THE EMPEROR 89. A POUNDING FOR BLÜCHER 90. THE ERRORS OF MARSHAL NEY 91. THE FINAL MOVES 92. WATERLOO 93. POSTSCRIPT APPENDICES A. ORDER OF BATTLE OF THE ARMY OF ITALY, APRIL 12, 1796 B. EXAMPLES OF NAPOLEON'S CHIEF Manoeuvres sur les Derrières C. THE STRENGTH AND POSITIONS OF L'Armée de Réserve, JUNE 14, 1800 D. THE FORMATIONS OF La Grande Armée, AUGUST 29, 1805 E. THE ORGANIZATION OF L'Armée d'Espagne IN NOVEMBER 1808 F. THE FORMATIONS OF THE RE-FORMED Grande Armée ON MARCH 30, 1809 G. ORGANIZATION OF La Grande Armée FOR THE CAMPAIGN OF 1812 H. ORGANIZATION OF L'Armé du Nord FOR THE CAMPAIGN OF 1815 I. SUMMARY OF SELECTED BATTLES J. THE IMPERIAL NOBILITY REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY GLOSSARY OF MILITARY TERMS INDEXES