Napoleon's army was born from the multiple French revolutionary armies. These were a merger of the old royal troops and a mix of volunteer and conscripted units. Raw recruits filled with patriotic enthusiasm marched forward alongside royal veterans and rogue adventurers eager for loot. By 1799, the French armies had been battle-tested and hardened. They provided the human material with which Bonaparte put an end to the revolutionary wars and prepared for his future imperial successes. The bewildering array of uniforms worn by the revolutionary soldiers is much less documented than those of their imperial successors. In 1943, Henry Boisselier produced a series of 56 plates providing a broad coverage of the troops which fought from 1792 to 1799. This volume presents this series with comprehensive comments for each plate as well as a discussion on the artist, the sources he used and the citizens, men and women, who answered the call to arms. It fills a gap for anyone with an interest in the 1792-1815 period and its uniforms. AUTHOR: Yves Martin was born in 1959 and has been passionate about history and the military ever since he can remember. Like so many others of his generation, Napoleon's birth centennial in 1969 ignited his fascination for the 1792-1815 period. For the last 20 or so years, he has turned what used to be a simple hobby into a more serious endeavour. Amassing a collection of period prints and books - and digging through archives - he has become a regular contributor to French periodicals like Tradition and Gloire et Empire, and was one of the founders of the now-defunct Soldats Napoleoniens magazine. He is not focused only on the French Army, but also enjoys researching the allies and foes of France - especially the British and the Poles. Born into a family which had settled in Algeria in 1848, the French presence in Egypt became an obvious pet topic for him, as that very experience provided a blueprint for the later conquest and colonisation of Algeria. He currently resides in Paris, where he works as an executive for a large US high-tech corporation. 1 b/w photo, 56 colour plates
