South-east Europe is one of the most neglected fronts of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815); yet on the coast of the Adriatic Sea – broadly, former Western Yugoslavia and the Ionian Islands – France struggled to hold a vital strategic outpost dominating Austrian and Russian access to the Mediterranean. Here she took into imperial service former Austrian frontier regiments, which fought with distinction in Russia in 1812; and raised irregulars from among the exotic warrior populations to guard the Turkish frontier inland, and the coasts and islands from British naval raids. This detailed review of all such troops is illustrated with rare prints and meticulous colour plates.

In 1912, the Balkan states formed an alliance in an effort to break free from the crumbling Ottoman Empire. Forming an army of some 645,000 troops from Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenego, they took on a force of 400,000 Turkish soldiers. Both sides were equipped with the latest weapons technology. This book looks at the diverse and sometimes colourful uniforms worn by both sides, paying special attention to insignia, weapons and equipment. It also gives an overview of the campaigns that became a 'priming pan' of World War I.

This volume covers the infantry units of Napoleon’s Imperial Army, during the crucial years 1800-1815. When the future Emperor assumed control of France, the infantry of his army was disorganized and poorly equipped; it lacked discipline and was trained in a quite old-fashioned way. Napoleon acted very rapidly to resolve the major problems of his foot troops, by giving them a new structure and by teaching them new tactics. By 1805, the French infantry was without a doubt the best in the world in terms of combat capabilities. The book will cover all the categories of units that were part of Napoleon’s infantry: line regiments, light regiments, foreign corps and special corps. It is not always realized that the French infantry of 1800-1815 included large numbers of foreign soldiers and even an Irish Legion; all these little-known corps are taken into consideration, together with several special corps like Corsican light infantry and mountain infantry. Gabriele Esposito provides a complete guide to the French infantry of Napoleon, illustrated with rare contemporary uniform plates that have never been published before.

This superb and comprehensive book details the foreign units which formed such an important part of Napoleon's forces. It examines each non-French unit in turn, giving an overview of the unit's origins, its organizational and combat history, its uniforms and standards, and details of the unit's eventual fate. Colourful accounts, taken from contemporary reports and memoirs, emphasize the qualities of the unit and throw light on what life was like for many of the foreign soldiers recruited into the Grande Armée. In total more than 100 different foreign units that served in the French Army are investigated in detail in this ambitious publication. Some foreign units fought and flourished throughout the Consulate and Empire, whilst others lasted for just a few months. Covers Polish, German, Swiss, Italian, Spanish, and other units in the French Army and presents a combat history and details uniforms for each regiment. Napoleon's Mercenaries is the best single-volume study of this aspect of Napoleon s army and a vital reference for every Napoleonic enthusiast. Little can be found on the foreign units that were an integral part of the French army ... For a long time a gap has existed, but now Napoleon s Mercenaries fills this gap. Robert Burnham, Napoleonic Series

Osprey Men-at-Arms: A Celebration is a very special volume detailing some of the wonderful artwork that has graced Osprey's renowned Men-at-Arms series over the last forty years. Beautifully presented in luxurious cloth, embossed and foil blocked, with head and tails bands and a ribbon bookmark, the collection contains the most treasured illustrations from the vast archives of this respected series and is a classic, collectable item for all military history enthusiasts.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1951.