Featured battle : Hyères

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 13 July 1795

The French fleet of seventeen ships-of-the-line was sought and chased by the Anglo-Neapolitan fleet of 22 ships. Some manoeuvring by the British commander, Vice-Admiral Hotham, moved the Coalition fleet further away from the French before he ordered a general chase. The advantage was lost and only six British ships were able to come up with the enemy. As others were closing the Admiral ordered a general recall. A much criticized action.

Napoleon in 100 Objects

Gareth Glover
What a fascinating approach to the life and times of Napoleon Bonaparte. Proclamations, furniture, cannons, hats, frocks and so much more are all illustrated and written about. Gareth Glover gives us the story of each of the hundred objects in their context and in doing so writes a brief broad brush history of the Napoleonic period. Every item is dealt with individually but the whole is structured roughly in the correct chronological order. Every item has two or three pages which makes this book easy to pick up at odd moments for a ‘little read’ but be warned it is easier to pick up than to put down. One reads one section then sees the picture of the next item so one reads on and ten minutes soon becomes half an hour.
This is a high quality publication; the photographs are beautifully presented. Although I am not keen on black print on some rather dark pages the overall effect lends an antique feel to the book.
There is one surprising omission in that there isn’t any acknowledgement of where the objects and paintings are now. It would be nice to know on the off chance that one could visit the place.
This book will appeal to a wide range of readers and we recommend it highly.

Frontline Books, 2019