SPLENDOUR REVISITED: King Joachim Murat's Colourful Army - The Neapolitan Army 1808-1815

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Joachim Murat was one of those larger-than-life characters that crop up throughout history. He had a humble start in life and took a chance for adventure when he first joined the army. He again took a risk giving support to General Bonaparte in Paris in 1795 and rode on his coattails to become the most brilliant of contemporary cavalry generals, husband to one of Bonaparte's sisters, and eventually King of Naples before, ultimately but tragically, attempting to free himself from Napoleon's influence and unite all of Italy. This book outlines his life and charts his progress from birth in Gascony to death before a firing squad in Italy.

However, Murat was not only a great general, he was one of history's greatest dandies who not only wore some fantastic uniforms of his own, but designed them for his Neapolitan troops. The book describes many of these uniforms and illustrates them using lead figures painted in fantastic detail by the author.

This book provides a concise but full history of this remarkable man and will enable those interested in the Naples Army from 1808 to 1815 to see the full glory of their uniforms.

Includes 50 photos of hand-painted miniatures.