Lutzen & Bautzen 1813: The Turning Point (Praeger Illustrated Military History Series)

This book provides a very good succint introduction to its topic for its 96 page length (can be read in about hour and a half to two hours). The book starts out by giving a very good overview of the diplomatic and military situation at the time of the campaign. Then an overview of the armies involved is presented. This discusses the condition of the army, officer quality and the quality and cooperation of the high commands. The weaknesses of the French army, pariculary inexperience troops and lack of cavalry/horses is emphasizes. This is particularly important as this is what really prevented Napoleon from achieving a decisive victory and crushing his opponents armies as opposed to merely defeating them (an allowing them to regroup for a second chance). The development of the battle is well discussed and well illustrated in the maps provided. A section on the aftermath is also provided and is quite good. The book is also well illustrated primarily with contemporary etchings and drawings. For the figurine builder there are also many contemporary illustartions of troops but the problem is that nearly all of them are in black and white, hence limiting their usefullness. A few color plates illustrating troops and their kits would have been nice to have included. Overall, a very good introduction to the battle for the reader who only has about 1.5 - 2 hours to spend on the topic.