Buy new:
$26.34
FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: LIVre
$26.34
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$26.34 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$26.34
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Sold by
LIVre
Sold by
LIVre
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$18.73
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Book in acceptable used condition. Pages with no highlighting, no underlining and no writing - slight spotting on outside. Cover is in acceptable condition - laminate is lifting from cover. Book in acceptable used condition. Pages with no highlighting, no underlining and no writing - slight spotting on outside. Cover is in acceptable condition - laminate is lifting from cover. See less
FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$26.34 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$26.34
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Alistair Horne
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

How Far From Austerlitz?: Napoleon 1805-1815 Paperback – July 15, 1998

by Alistair Horne (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 47 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$26.34","priceAmount":26.34,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"26","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"34","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"NkwPw%2BMtNqA0Whn4o1MKavRX1z9AuK5V661qpqDz8YpgM1qu1iMYK3pv%2F2ug%2FXOGEQj6QLbUMttJTCZOxvf5dJFXr4wXUMljbgFZ6wfdS3BcuGGtraucLWiDDAAHlPf%2Fu9H7%2Fxi%2BYRI6wMWLglIPKVHEFlGbm7Vh8Le5UpMTP1PCrR%2FiO92NlJyQP%2FvDiBm6","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$18.73","priceAmount":18.73,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"18","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"73","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"NkwPw%2BMtNqA0Whn4o1MKavRX1z9AuK5VENREi4cjvY%2Fnb67LLCbGHwq6iCrb1i8meWCcwZdYxZcEMY6Dk9ConECCoyXEkFZ69Nafa5u9DY64cJ5Uq6iffIZ4ebW86dOKilif%2FJLXeyFMP%2ByJ2yOYaBV7w45Hz8PSi68%2FEmPSX7sK1aseabKJWjJvq5V943e3","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A London Sunday Times Book of the Year
A Daily Telegraph Book of the Year
Previous page
  1. Print length
    464 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    St. Martin's Griffin
  4. Publication date
    July 15, 1998
  5. Dimensions
    6.1 x 1.27 x 9.18 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0312187246
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0312187248
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The new volume shows Mr. Horne doing what he does best: writing lively, interesting, anecdote-enriched, and scholarly popular history. How Far from Austerlitz? is what popular history should be, fascinating and edifying, a rattling yet also sobering good story."--The New York Times

"An engrossing work by a master historian."--William F. Buckley, Jr., The National Review

"Concise and vivid...Mr. Horne's skill as a writer keeps the story fresh and intriguing."--The Washington Times

"A delight."--The Los Angeles Times

"Few military historians have given me more enjoyment than Alistair Horne; his newest book does not disappoint."--The Military History Quarterly (Editor's Choice)

About the Author

Alistair Horne, described by C.P. Snow as "one of the best writers of history in the English-speaking world," is the recipient of the French Legion of Honor, a Wolfson Literary Award, the Hawthornden Prize, and the CBE. His A Savage War of Peace and A Bundle form Britain were both New York Times Notable Books of the Year. He has written for The New York Times, Esquire,and The Washington Post.Alistair Horne lives in England and is a trustee of the Imperial War Museum.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Griffin (July 15, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312187246
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312187248
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1.27 x 9.18 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 47 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Alistair Horne

Alistair Horne

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
47 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Craig Lawson
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyed this book
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
It was a very well written account of the Napoleonic era. I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to know what happened during that period. There are more in depth accounts that can than be read if you want to know any part of this era in greater detail.
Helpful
 Report
Nicholas Roberts
4.0 out of 5 stars Easy, flowing read.
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2013
Verified Purchase
I enjoy the few books that I have read by this author and this one was not exception. Here he tells the whole story of Napoleon's part in the Napoleonic Wars while comparing it to more modern conflicts such as World War II. At first I was skeptical about all the comparisons as another reviewer stated, but I actually enjoyed most of them. As an American we do not hear many things about Napoleon and everything about World War II. Although I know much about Napoleon, I feel that the average reader does not. His comparisons to more contemporary events such as WWII allow the reader to grasp the significance of them. The only downside with the book is that it does not go into very much detail except when talking about the Battle of Austerlitz. This book could have easily been twice or even three times as long if the author went into greater detail. However overall this is a great book to either refresh your Napoleonic knowledge or if you want to learn about Napoleon for the first time. However if you are a knowledgeable Napoleonic enthusiast this book will not add much more than you already know. I would still recommend it however, it is worth the read.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Philip L. Sheehy
5.0 out of 5 stars Great order management in the on time delivery of an excellent edition
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2021
Verified Purchase
An excellent copie of a well known book which has become unfortunately hard to find.
Helpful
 Report
Clavius
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Comprehensive Napoleonic History
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is an excellent, detailed history of the Napoleonic age. Political, military, and social aspects of the period are well covered. Alistair Horne is an excellent European historian with a special expertise in French history. The writing is excellent; you are taken through the events and the people in a very engaging manner.
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
lapidaryblue
5.0 out of 5 stars I'm a sucker for Napoleon books
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2011
I am a sucker for Napoleon books but this one is good. Again, it's one of those I wish I wrote. He lays the whole Napoleonic wars out there for us to study and dissect, if we care to. And this is a fairly straightforward and rewardable journey. He makes plain what most people missed in their high school and college courses. And it is fascinating as hell. Napoleon, how could one man do so much in such a short time, a la Alexander.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
John P. Jones III
4.0 out of 5 stars "And wasn't it a long way down, and wasn't it a strange way down..."
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2010
... To quote from an old Leonard Cohen song, "Dress Rehearsal Rag." The message is much the same, but Alistair Horne derives this book's title from Rudyard Kipling's poem, "A St. Helena Lullaby." Specifically, "How far is St. Helena from the field of Austerlitz?"

How far indeed, from the genius (and luck) of Napoleon's brilliant military victory over the Austrians in 1805, when everything plus went right; to his lonely exile only 10 years later, in one of the most remote places on earth, St. Helena island in the South Atlantic. My copy of this work is the one published in 1997, with the infinitely superior cover, the painting of Paul Hippolyte Delaroche, with a seated Napoleon whose facial expression exemplify the French word "hébété," (dazed, stupefied, bewildered).

I'm in complete agreement with the sentiments expressed in the review by Timothy Graczewski: I too am an immense fan of Alistair Horne, and feel that  A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics)  along with his trilogy on the Franco-German conflicts:  The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71 , The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916  and  To Lose a Battle: France 1940  are some of the very best historical narratives of the 20th Century. The intensity and feeling of his writing come deep from within the man, as he says in the preface: "For "The Price of Glory", I plodded for many days round the battered forts and crater-fields of Verdun. Sometimes the sadness of it all reduced me to tears." But, like Graczewski, I feel this work lacks a certain focus and cogency. It's lively, and well-written, but just a bit too `breezy." And my personal indicator of how important a book is, the number of passages I have to mark in the margins, came up far too short.

In the first fourth of the book Horne sets the stage for Austerlitz, starting with the meteoric rise of the young "adventurer" from Corsica, arriving on the stage of a country that had been racked by a revolution that famously consumed its own children. By 1802 he was crowning himself Emperor in Notre Dame. With his charisma, he built "La Grande Armeée", with devoted "grognards" (veterans) who literally would walk to Moscow for him. Horne devotes chapters to the other major battles, including the Peninsular campaign, prior to Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. The author also covers the diplomatic maneuvering, the feints at peace that were only rest-stops on his way to his vision of a unified Continental Europe. The book contains excellent maps of the battles, along with numerous drawings of the principals and events. Horne has not lost his knack for selecting incisive epigraphs for his chapters, and they range from one from Stendhal's  The Charterhouse of Parma (Oxford World's Classics)  to Madame de Stael, for the Epilogue: "One must not be at war with everyone."

There are some memorable passages for being "breezy." Consider Horne's lead-in to the "what ifs" of history: "There is an (apocryphal) anecdote about a British dignitary interviewing Chairman Mao. He asked him what, in his opinion, might have happened if, instead of President Kennedy, Khrushchev had been assassinated. Mao reflected a while, then replied, `It's hard to tell. But I don't suppose Mr. Onassis would have married Mrs. Khrushchev!'"

Although historical specialists might quibble about varying degrees of emphasis, overall, this is an excellent account of the Napoleonic period for the general reader. Normally, I'd consider this a 5-star book, if written by another historian, but in relationship to his other work, I'll join the vast majority of other reviewers with "only" 4-stars.
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
jose luis alonso
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2017
Verified Purchase
ist a good sumary of tthe napoleonic's battles
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
M Clark
4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of the campaigns of Napoleon
Reviewed in Germany on September 9, 2017
Verified Purchase
Good overview of the campaigns of Napoleon starting in 1805. Although it goes into details on some battles (Austerlitz), it mostly keeps to a higher level in describing the overall campaigns.
Report
Mr. M. J. Wykeham
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
Yet another wonderful book from Alistair Horne, explains so much.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Mr Michael James Bardin
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2015
Verified Purchase
very good like new
Report
Ed
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2018
Verified Purchase
Excellent.
Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
Superb!
Report