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Whilst many of the German works have been published in English few, if any, of the French works have been translated and their inclusion within this work will offer both a fresh perspective of events as well as providing a useful counterpoint to the somewhat 'Prussian-centric' viewpoints reflected in many previous studies of the conflict. The second volume in the series takes an in depth look at the three major encounters that took place around Metz in mid-August 1870; Borny\/Colomby fought on the 14th; the encounter at Vionville\/Mars la Tour on the 16th and finally, one of the largest battles of the nineteenth century, the decisive clash at Gravelotte\/St Privat on the 18th. 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This excellent source material has been supplemented by the works of Lehautcourt and the memoirs of many of the French commanders with additional detail and analysis derived from the numerous official and semi-official Staff studies published during the 1880-90's. While many of the German works have been published in English few, if any, of the French works have been translated and their inclusion within this work will hopefully provide both a fresh perspective of events as well as providing a useful counterpoint to the somewhat 'Prussian-centric' viewpoints reflected in many previous works.Following on from the previous books in the series, the Opening Engagements and The Battles around Metz, the third volume take a fresh and detailed look at both the military and political background to this short but decisive campaign which saw French and German forces clash at Nouart, the encounter battle at Beaumont and the pivotal engagement of the campaign, fought between Marshal MacMahon's Army of Châlons and the combined German armies under General Moltke outside the walls of Sedan.The detailed narrative is complemented by extensive orders of battle and casualty lists derived from the French and German official histories and is accompanied by a number of maps together with color and black and white illustrations.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49744629039377,"sku":"NGR9781804513323","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1804513326.jpg?v=1751632448"},{"product_id":"the-destruction-of-the-imperial-army-book-grenville-bird-9781915113818","title":"The The Destruction of the Imperial Army","description":"This volume is the most comprehensive account of the defeat of the French Imperial Army published in the last 100 years. It includes a detailed order of battles and the casualty returns for all major engagements. This work, the first in a four volume series, takes a fresh and in depth look at the events of the opening months of the Franco-German War between Napoleon's Imperial Army and King Wilhelm's German armies when within the space of four weeks in summer 1870 the established order was overthrown and Prussia laid the foundations for a military and political hegemony in Europe which led directly or indirectly to two World Wars. Many recent accounts of this pivotal conflict draw heavily on the usual tried and tested sources, for example, those which have been translated into English and are readily available, such as the German Official histories and the memoirs of senior German commanders. While this work does reference such sources, the basic narrative is taken from the numerous volumed French official account, La Guerre de 1870-71 published by the Section historique de l'État-major de l'Armée around the turn of the 20th Century, which in addition to making use of information not available to the authors of the earlier German official history, also includes detailed annexes providing copious orders of battle, a er battle unit reports, and casualty records for almost every engagement. is excellent source material has been supplemented by the works of Lehautcourt and the memoirs of many of the French commanders with additional detail and analysis derived from the numerous official and semi-official Staff studies published during the 1880-90s. Whilst many of the German works have been published in English, few of the French works have been translated and their inclusion within this work will provide both a fresh perspective of events as well as providing a useful counterpoint to the somewhat 'Prussian-centric' viewpoints reflected in many previous works. The first volume in the series covers the background to the conflict, the opposing armies, war plans, mobilization and the opening engagements of the conflict including the combats at Saarbrücken and Wissembourg, the battles of Froeschwiller and Forbach and the retreat to the Moselle. Subsequent volumes will take a similarly detailed and comprehensive look at the three major encounters around Metz at Borny, Vionville and St Privat; the short-lived campaign of the Army of Châlons and the fighting at Nouart, Beaumont and Sedan, and the oft-overlooked sieges of Strasbourg and Metz and the battles of Servigny-Noiseville and Landonchamps.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49883724087569,"sku":"NGR9781915113818","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50436958847249,"sku":"GOR013466269","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1915113814.jpg?v=1751631850"},{"product_id":"the-destruction-of-the-imperial-army-book-grenville-bird-9781804514597","title":"The The Destruction of the Imperial Army","description":"The fourth and concluding volume in this series - \u003ci\u003eThe Destruction of the Imperial Army\u003c\/i\u003e - takes an in-depth look at events between the humiliating French surrender at Sedan and the ignominious submission of Bazaine and the Army of the Rhine at Metz as, seemingly, a succession of disasters befell Napoleon's once proud and invincible forces.French fortunes appeared to be at their nadir following the raising of the white flag over the walls of Sedan, but the worst was yet to come. The unsavory infighting between the French generals at Sedan seeking to apportion blame for their defeat in battle and Napoleon's equally humiliating interview with Bismarck and the Prussian King was partially offset by General Uhrich's courageous, albeit ultimately futile, defense of Strasbourg. However, such sacrifice could not compensate for Bazaine's frankly incomprehensible behavior at Metz. His inexplicable failure to break through the besieging German lines at the two day battle of Servigny\/Noisseville and his equally underhand behavior during ensuing negotiations with the German commander, Prince Charles, le friends and adversaries - and the marshal had many antagonists amongst the French ranks - simply bewildered.As with previous volumes, the narrative draws heavily on the French official history and Lehautcourt's exhaustive studies, enlivened by quotes from all the major participants and eyewitnesses which provide fresh insights into the final days of this momentous campaign, which resulted in the downfall of the Second Empire and the birth of the third Republic.The book concludes with chapters on French and German tactics, weapons and warfighting, and as with previous volumes in the series, includes extensive orders of battle, casualty lists and appendices, the extensive text being complemented by numerous photographs and illustrations, period maps and copies of tactical plates taken from contemporary French and German training manuals.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49883729658129,"sku":"NGR9781804514597","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1804514594.jpg?v=1751631401"},{"product_id":"memorandum-on-the-prussian-army-in-relation-to-the-campaign-of-1866-book-grenville-bird-9781804516270","title":"Memorandum on the Prussian Army in Relation to the Campaign of 1866","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51605721645329,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51605721809169,"sku":"GOR013882883","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51605721841937,"sku":"NGR9781804516270","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1804516279.jpg?v=1751632731"},{"product_id":"defeat-of-the-republican-armies-the-siege-of-paris-1870-71-volume-1-book-grenville-bird-9781806722716","title":"The Defeat of the Republican Armies: The Siege of Paris 1870-71 Volume 1","description":"Following the surrender of Emperor Napoleon III after the catastrophic defeat of the Army of Châlons at Sedan, the Siege of Paris became the focal point of the Republican phase of the war, with both sides recognising that the fall of the capital would spell defeat for France and victory for Germany. 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