Bismarck's First War: The Campaign of Schleswig and Jutland 1864

This is not an easy read. It is, however, an interesting account of an important and overlooked conflict in European history.

Book is a history of a little written about war between the German Confederation, Prussia and the Hapsburg Empire against Denmark, While it might be, at first, difficult to follow the numbering of the military units, I thought it was a well written military history. I would have like to have read more about Bismarck's manuering and Molke's planning; however, I believe that the author's intent was otherwise.

Very in-depth and packed with information. This is a very well written book on a little known subject in the English speaking world. My one and only complaint is it would have been nice to know which numbered Battalions made up the larger Regiments that Denmark formed right before the war. This book would be of interest for anyone interested in the Political and Military ramifications of this war.

good book about an unknown war

A summary of the review on StrategyPage.Com:'A rare work in English on the short (272 day) Danish-German war of 1864, Bismarck’s First War covers what at a glance would seem to be a minor conflict, on several levels, demonstrating its long-term historical importance. Superficially a step toward the unification of Germany, the war also demonstrated the effectiveness of the recent sweeping reforms of the Prussian army and gave the world a first look at Bismarck’s prodigious political and diplomatic skills. Embree places the war into its highly complex historical, diplomatic, and political niche, notes that Danish ultra-nationalists bore considerable responsibility for the coming of war by rejecting compromises and alienating international opinion. He then gives us a very detailed account of the war, with a number of good battle pieces, often down to platoon level. There are useful profiles of the competing military institutions and the leaders on both sides. This is an excellent look at the nature of warfare in Europe at mid-century, the rise of Prussia, and the foundations of twentieth century Europe.'For the full review, see StrategyPage.Com

I am from Denmark and my greatgreat grandfather participated in the war, as a private in the 1. field artillery battery.I can highly recommend this book for those people - Germanic or Danish - who are interested in genealogy and wish to know more about their ancestors actual involvement in the conflict. This book is certainly not as easily digestable as other (Danish) books on the subject, but it provides an immense level of detail, which will allow the reader to pinpoint the location of the different units (and thus individuals) in the different engagements. I found that very fascinating.As for my g g grandfather, he went home and got married straight after the war. Stayed with the army for eight years, before eventually settling as a shopkeeper, raising eight children along the way.

This book goes together with the book by Nick Svensen called "The First Schweiswig-Holstein War." This first war occurred in 1848. Even though this book is called "Bismarck's First War" the war covered in this book, is actually the "second" Schleiswig-Holstein War which occurred in 1864.

Blink and you would have missed this war between Prussia and Denmark, but it marked the first major move by Prussia, driven by Bismarck, to establish itself as a central European power of significance with the annexation of Holstein from Denmark. In this, Bismarck was ably assisted by Helmuth von Moltke of the Prussian General Staff and their partnership would create the Imperial German State under Prussian domination. From such small wars major states emerge and such was the case with Prussia, for at this stage she sought and obtained the assistance of Austria in carrying out her plans to first neutralise Schleswig-Holstein. The war of 1866 against Austria would end this stalemate and finally force an outcome of who would drive German unification.A highly detailed account but very readable, it describes the march of the Prussian forces against the Danes and their defeat by a highly organised if untried professional army. A good read.

Very detailed with lots of very good illustrations (59) and maps (37). Large Appendix with Orders of Battle, details of participants and their weaponry.Split into 15 self- contained chapters plus Appendix for easy reading and reference. The amazing number of illustrations and maps make it a very informative read.

nice book good price quick delivery

Excellent book. Convenient to have in Kindle as well as hard copy

Great