The War of Wars is the thrilling

narrative of the twenty-two-year struggle

between two great powers: England

and France.

At the turn of the eighteenth century the greatest

nations in Europe, separated by only 21 miles of

water, offered two distinct idealogies that

would shape the new century: in England there was a

democratic, constitutional monarchy; in France

the cataclysm of Revolution had

dragged the absolute King from the throne and

replaced him with the Mob. Out of that maelstrom

emerged a military leader, Napoleon Bonaparte,

commander of the revolutionary army, who went on to

conquer Italy and Egypt before returning to Paris

to proclaim himself Emperor. As Napoleon gained

power in France, the world stood on the brink of

total war.

By 1805 the victorious General was

making plans to cross the channel and invade

England.The subsequent drama reaches from the

frozen plains surrounding Moscow to the

waters of the Caribbean, from the debating chamber of

Parliament to the muddy fields of Waterloo.

1793-1815 can truly be called the first

global war; it was also the first conflict driven by

industrial might. And it was a battle

between commanders that history will never

forget: as Napoleon's forces moved to engulf Europe, it was men like Duke Charles of Hapsburg and Gebhard von Blucher, the Duke of Wellington and Horatio Nelson, who turned the tide. Through the story of battles, politics

and diplomacy of the era, Robert Harvey brings

vivid new life to these men who

changed the course of history - for out of

the furnace of the Napoleonic Wars, the modern

world was born.