The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Modern Warfare

'A brilliantly original work of military history'Sunday Times

'An enthralling, multi-layered analysis ... Perhaps the most thought-provoking aspects of the book are those that draw parallels with more recent times' Daily Telegraph

In this tour de force of interpretative history, David A. Bell explains that Napoleon's was the first 'total' war in European history, when warfare was transformed into the hideous spectacle that seems ever present today.

As armies of unprecedented size were drafted across the continent, all aspects of society were bent towards total, unrelenting war. This was the most intense conflict in history, and one which became the blueprint for a complete change in the nature of warfare and statecraft.

With a historian's sharp eye for detail, Bell resurrects Napoleonic Europe and brings a new perspective to a period we thought we knew.