Napoleon’s Conscripts: Conscription and the French Army, 1798-1815 (From Reason to Revolution)
Graeme Callister
Publisher: Helion and Company (March 15, 2025)
Paperback: 184 pages
ISBN: 9781804516751
Over the course of the Napoleonic wars, the French emperor mobilised over two million fighting men – most of them conscripts. Napoleon’s Conscripts tells their story. Exploring the system of conscription and soldiers’ experiences of service, it sheds light on the lives of ordinary men who marched beneath the emperor’s eagles. From its introduction in 1798 until the fall of the empire in 1815, conscription provided Napoleon with the manpower for the almost incessant military campaigns that saw French troops fight across Europe from the Atlantic coast to the edge of the Russian steppes, the deserts of North Africa, and the islands of the West Indies. Conscription influenced not only who was in the French army and how they experienced military life but, ultimately, how the army operated both on and off the battlefield.
Napoleon’s Conscripts looks into this vital but often overlooked issue, peeling back the curtain to explain how conscription worked, how conscripts moved from farm to front line, and how conscription influenced the French army and its soldiers. Based on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including offering unique insights from the original service records of tens of thousands of soldiers from across the French empire, Napoleon’s Conscripts will appeal to anyone with an interest in Napoleon’s campaigns, the French army, or French society of the early nineteenth century.
Author
Dr Graeme Callister is a Senior Lecturer in History and War Studies at York St John University, with extensive experience of researching and teaching the history of warfare. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He received his PhD in History from the University of York, and his first book, War, Public Opinion and Policy, was published in 2017. His most recent work has been on the British campaign in the Low Countries in 1793-5 and on conscription in Napoleonic France.
Ok Rob/ Tom
Thanks for your professional reply on the matter. I'm not unaware of the difficulties involved, but the spread of misinformation is so broad it spoils everything we read. So glad you have a handle on this and aware of buyers... I spent 2 decades away from the military hobbies but am playing catch up as fast as a pension will permit.
I'm happy to moderate my post if you think it needs it. regards dave
Thanks Rob. I was going to make a similar comment, but you can give first hand info.
Firstly, I'd like to thank Tom for making readers aware of upcoming titles that may be of interest. It has certainly helped to populate my wish lists in the past.
Secondly, as an editor at Helion, I want to explain how our lists work to answer @Davew's comment. Our distributors and retailers require that we inform them long in advance of forthcoming titles, so, in common with the rest of the industry, we produce two lists of future titles, spring and autumn. These are produced well in advance as the data takes time to gather from the authors and get covers designed etc – I'm currently working on the autumn 2025 list.
The obvious purpose of these lists is to help start building awareness and demand for the titles.
Once a title is on a list, there are many reasons why the planned publication date may slip. These are almost always down to the authors. The vast majority of our authors have day jobs, families, and other factors that frequently and rightly deprioritise their writing. When an author comes to me and says they are going to be late, I ask when they think they will get the book to me. If the book has already been put on a list, we don't tend to move it to another, as the date of publication may still change. Sometimes, the authors go dark, and we don't hear from them for a while. We could take the attitude that the deadline has been missed and cancel the contract, but since this happens a lot, it would mean that we publish far fewer books.
In the case of vol.2 of the Bennigsen memoir, the translator has been in touch, and the book is currently with his collaborator.
I have had lots of contact from Graeme Callister so I'm confident the book will be published on schedule in the first half of next year. I've pencilled it in for a February date, but that may well change as another factor in the mix is my own workload and what other titles have come in. I tend to prioritise slotting late titles back into the schedule when I can, and I know there are a couple that may well appear.
Please forgive my thoughts on the fantasist publishing arena these days Tom, but a promotion of a book "and on conscription in Napoleonic France...." not even published yet, while we wait years for series to be completed..? Nearing two years Vol 2 of Bennigsens (1807) memoirs still hasn't been published despite we are told, being in the Autumn catalogue. Same publisher... taking net baiting to extremes.
[Edit] - Thought I'd better go check the status- yes, or no? Not yet published - in Spring 2025 list !
dave