The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe And the Birth of Warfare As We Know It - Hardcover

Bell, David A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0618349650 ISBN 13: 9780618349654

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007

Synopsis

A distinguished historian describes how the Enlightenment and the French Revolution led to the first total war in history during the age of Napoleon, when such embodiments of modern-day warfare--conscription, guerrilla warfare, unconditional surrender, disregard for the rules of combat, civilian mobilization, and more--made their first appearance.

About this title

Review:

"A page turner . . . Everyone who hates wars . . . should read these pages." --Patrice Higonnet, Harvard University

"İDavid Bell¨ is one of the best prose stylists of his generation." --Steven Englund, author of Napoleon, A Political Life

"As wise at it is timely, and as rich in detail as it is grand in scope." --David Armitage, Professor of History, Harvard University

"David Bell gives a gripping account of the transformation of European war. This is a bold and important book." --Natalie Zemon Davis, University of Toronto

"A terrific book, fresh, original and compelling. . . a brilliant account of a fundamental historical transformation." --Keith Michael Baker, Stanford University

"From the gripping opening paragraphs to the very end, The First Total War is . . . an historical page-turner." --Dror Wahrman, Ruth N. Halls Professor of History, Indiana University

"A mesmerizing account that illuminates not just the Napoleonic wars but all of modern history... it reads like a novel." --Lynn Hunt, Eugen Weber Professor of Modern European History, UCLA

" A page turner . . . Everyone who hates wars . . . should read these pages." --Patrice Higonnet, Harvard University

"[David Bell] is one of the best prose stylists of his generation." --Steven Englund, author of Napoleon, A Political Life

" As wise at it is timely, and as rich in detail as it is grand in scope." --David Armitage, Professor of History, Harvard University

About the Author:

David A. Bell is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Johns Hopkins and a contributing editor for the New Republic. A graduate of Harvard College, he completed his Ph.D. at Princeton and taught for several years at Yale. Bell has written for the New York Times, Slate, and Time, and was featured on the History Channel’s program on the French Revolution.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0618349650
• ISBN 13: 9780618349654
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 420