This is a continuation of series of books by Helion & Company relating to 19^th century European military campaigns (and therefore this is not a review of a classical piece of music by Strauss).  This contribution by Michael Embree is clearly a labour of love.  I have to say from the start that to get the most out of it I suspect the reader has to be already interested in nineteenth century warfare and in particular familiar with the revolutions that swept all of Europe in 1848 and the wars leading to the unification of Italy as something beyond merely a “geographical expression”!  It is an odd coincidence to receive this book to review having just finished Mark Thompson’s highly recommended “The White War”, which details life and death on the Italian front in the First World War; this marking the finalisation of the unification.  And before continuing with this review, “1848 Year of Revolution” by Mike Rapport paints the broader picture of revolutionary Europe in the mid nineteenth century and sets the scene nicely for fully appreciating Mr Embree’s work.

What Mr Embree brings us is a detailed account of the revolt(s) in 1848 against Austrian (Habsburg Imperialist) rule of Venetia and Lombardy (centred around the cities of Venice and Milan respectively) and the opportunistic intervention on the side of the revolutionaries by the state of Piedmont-Sardinia.  The Austrians are led from initial defeat, through stalemate and ultimate victory by the Austrian General of the title, Radetzky. 

We are given enough background of the various players, personalities and politics to enable us to understand why the campaign was fought but the focus is firmly on the military action.  And this is done in great detail.  

At the beginning of the book is short breakdown of the composition and make up of the main military forces involved – not just Piedmontese and Austrian but the units sent by the Kingdom of Naples and those from the Papal forces that “assisted” the rebels against the Austrians.  And, whilst it might be odd the mention the Annexes at the start of a review, there are twenty one of them! All but one giving the orders of battle for both sides at various points during the campaign – these are down to named battalion or regimental level and often set out the number of companies in various units.  This is a great source for wargamers wishing to re-enact this campaign (and in particular it struck me that the Blackpowder Rules reviewed on this site previously would be an excellent way of recreating the action described in the book.  They really capture the spirit of the forces involved on both sides). 

The various major initial insurrections are described, with the dispositions and activities of both sides described often down to company and squadron level.  Then the various minor revolts and the Austrian responses are also described.  Next when moving onto the main military campaigning that followed we don’t just get the big battles or sieges discussed but also virtually all of the minor skirmishes, small operations and other activities that make up large scale military operations.  What this all reminded me about was the steady trickle of losses that are incurred by armies in the field on a daily basis.  Food for thought for anyone setting up a Wargames campaign of any period.

The detail continues in the way the set pieces (sieges and battles) are covered by the author.  For example we have details of how many cannons were in each siege battery and what calibres they were.  The commanders of the various units or sub units are usually indicated.  And Mr Embree has a brilliant knack of weaving into his narrative the actions of individuals or small units whilst at the same time giving us the grand sweep of Divisions and Brigades manoeuvring across the battlefields.  Also he is very even handed in his writing.  Whilst an Austrian commander figures importantly in the title I could detect no bias towards any of sides involved.  Also it helped that despite studying nineteenth century political and military history at school I couldn’t remember who won – so for me this was a bit of a page turner!

The book is very nicely illustrated with black and white prints of the period spread throughout the book showing key actions and events.  There is also an excellent colour section in the middle.  This contains more prints and paintings of the time (all the classically heroic stuff you’d expect from the period – but very useful if you are not familiar with the uniforms of the various combatant forces) and colour maps of some of the key battles, particularly Custoza and Novara.  There are also various black and white maps throughout the book illustrating various battles and sieges plus showing the broader picture of the Northern Italy of the time.

Ok so overall a great book.  Well researched, hyper detailed, nicely written and with a good number of quality illustrations and maps.  Perhaps quite a narrow appeal but why should that be seen as a criticism.  Books like this should exist and whilst calling it worthy might be seen as giving it an unhelpful label it certainly is worthy of being read and appreciated by as wide an audience as possible!  

So if you want to see what re soldiering was like in the nineteenth century forget the wars of mass of Napoleon or the amateurism of the Crimea, follow in the footsteps of a true professional, follow the marches of Radetzky!

Available now in a limited edition hardback published by Casemate Publishing, priced £37.50 (ISBN 9781906033248).

Review written by: Paul Robinson, Staff Writer