Napoleon's Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard

Description

This book draws on original regimental records to give by far the most detailed account ever published in English of the organization and personalities of the most renowned of the foreign units that served in the Emperor's armies. Unlike most of his foreign troops, these Polish horsemen were true volunteers, who owed their honoured place in his Imperial Guard to their proven courage and dash on battlefields from Spain to Russia. The text is illustrated with rare portraits and photographs, and with detailed colour plates of the Lancers' magnificent uniforms.

Ronald Pawly was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1956 and still lives and works in that city. He is a respected member of several international societies for Napoleonic studies, and an expert on 19th century military portraiture. He is the author of the monumental The Red Lancers: Anatomy of a Napoleonic Regiment (Crowood Press, 1998), and of a study of Napoleonic veterans' tombs in Belgium. Patrice Courcelle has been a professional illustrator for some 20 years. Entirely self-taught, he has illustrated many books and magazine articles for Continental publishers, and his work hangs in a number of public and private collections. His dramatic and lucid style has won him widespread admiration in the field of military illustration. Patrice lives a few miles from the battlefield of Waterloo.

"Author Ronald Pawley spins a superb tale that gives the reader the feeling that he is participating in the events of the time. Accompanied by a superb selection of artifact photos and illustrations of the time, this is an excellent book on the subject and one that I know you will enjoy reading." --Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com (August 2007)