1813 - Leipzig

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Decent Account of the "Battle of the Nations" - Rated
I had great expectations when I started reading this book. As soon as I saw the cover I knew that I had to read it, since there have been so few decent accounts of this pivotal battle. At long last a new book on the 1813 battle of Leipzig, the 'Battle of Nations'.

Alas it was not as good as I hoped. Although I found the research excellent and the first hand accounts very interesting the book was missing something. What it lacked, for me anyhow, was a story. The narrative was dry with lots of detail but it didn't seem to flow, to get you involved, as a good story should. I know the author is not writing a novel but a book that is just full of facts and details will lose its audience if its too dry to keep the reader awake.

I found the maps to be OK but I still found times when the author mentioned a place and I failed to locate it. This book will be of great benefit to the war-gamers and hardcore Napoleonic War readers. However for a person who is looking for a free flowing account that just pulls you into the story and at the same time gives you the facts required to understand what happened and why this book may be a hard slog.