Swords Around A Throne

"[Elting's] pages sparkle with shafts of humor as well as new insights and interpretations....A masterpiece; quite simply his fine book is the best I have ever read on this challenging subject."

"A marvellous book...Elting writes with light cavalry panache. More important, his scholarship is prodigious. This is not only the most comprehensive history of the Grand Armee ever to have appeared, it is also one of the best histories of any army ever to have been written....Above all, Elting writes human history. The Grand Armee was also a society of people and their voices carry through his text directly to the ear of the modern reader. The author's gift of catching and transmitting the echo of what they said is the highest of his many achievements."

"Elting has produced a literary jewel....He has virtually surpassed or made obsolete every other work on the Grand Armee. Subjects very seldom covered before are presented with clarity and color....This magnificent chronicle leaves the reader amazed."