Introduction

This book, originally published in 1978, argues that there was no ‘turning-point’ in Bonaparte’s career, but rather a consistent pattern from beginning to end. As a commander Bonaparte’s forte was speed and aggressiveness. As a planner, however he was slapdash: his armies starved and went barefoot. The author argues that far from being a master of concentration of force on the battlefield, he was again and again caught with his army dispersed and only rescued from disaster by the last-minute arrival of reinforcements.