The Frontier Sea

 I am delighted that my new book, The Frontier Sea: The Napoleonic Wars in the Adriatic, is now on sale. It can be ordered through your local bookshop, Amazon in paperback or Kindle editions, or the Balkan Military History website. There are links to these on the website, along with extracts from the book. 

I have presented the book on the BMH YouTube channel, which explains what the book covers and picks out some of the personalities that add colour to the story.

The book examines the campaigns, armies, navies and personalities that fought in the region between 1797 and 1815. Campaigns rarely mentioned in the history of the period. Austrian, French, Russian, British, and their foreign regiments fought up and down the coast. Sometimes with or against local leaders like Peter I of Montenegro and Ali Pasha of Ioannina. Many commanders were far from home, with orders taking weeks to reach them. This meant even junior officers could take military and diplomatic decisions usually reserved for more senior officers. 

Most of the great powers contested the lands around the Adriatic Sea during the Napoleonic wars. While never a major theatre of operations, it was part of the overall strategy of most of the combatants. It had an essential role in the conflict, influencing alliances and diverting troops and ships, which all contributed to the defeat of Napoleon. It was also a period of significant change, with the French and British intervening in a region that had long been a battleground reserved for the Austrian, Russian and Ottoman empires.

For wargamers, the book has a chapter on the armies and navies that fought in the Adriatic and a wargaming appendix. There are a couple of outline scenarios in the book to get you started, and there is more material on the dedicated page on this blog. 

Locally raised French troops facing Ali Pasha

Several folks have commented on what appears to be my prolific output, with two books in almost as many months. This is deceptive as it has more to do with publishing time and schedules. I wrote the first draft of Chasing the Soft Underbelly in 2021 and this book in 2022. This year's output should be published later this year. No AI is involved!

I still have more painting to finish all the armies. The last army is the Austrians, which are a bit of a nuisance as they changed their uniforms over the period more than most. However, I have made a start this week with the first batch of Jagers off the painting bench. They are from the Perry range.