This title draws on contemporary testimonies of life in Napoleon's army, documenting the reality of conscription, training, camp life and combat action for the common infantry soldier during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). In contrast to most works on this period, it calls into question the propagandist views expounded by numerous Bonapartists - the romantic notion of La Gloire is very much tempered by some hard-hitting recollections of the horror and misery of military life 200 yearsago. Packed with prints taken from contemporary sources and superb colour illustrations, it provides a concise, revealing and authentic portrait of life in the Grand Armée.