{"product_id":"napoleons-enfant-terrible-general-dominique-vandamme-9780806138756","title":"Napoleon's Enfant Terrible: General Dominique Vandamme","description":"\u003cp\u003eA dedicated career soldier and excellent division and corps commander, Dominique Vandamme was a thorn in the side of practically every officer he served. Outspoken to a fault, he even criticized Napoleon, whom he never forgave for not appointing him marshal. His military prowess so impressed the emperor, however, that he returned Vandamme to command time and again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this first book-length study of Vandamme in English, John G. Gallaher traces the career of one of Napoleon's most successful midrank officers. He describes Vandamme's rise from a provincial youth with neither fortune nor influence to an officer of the highest rank in the French army. Gallaher thus offers a rare look at a Napoleonic general who served for twenty-five years during the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was a time when a general could lose his head if he lost a battle. Despite Vandamme's contentious nature, Gallaher shows, Napoleon needed his skills as a commander, and Vandamme needed Napoleon to further his career. Gallaher draws on a wealth of archival sources in France-notably the Vandamme Papers in Lille-to draw a full portrait of the general. He also reveals new information on such military events as the Silesian campaign of 1807 and the disaster at Kulm in 1813.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGallaher presents Vandamme in the context of the Napoleonic command system, revealing how he related to both subordinates and superiors. \u003cem\u003eNapoleon's\u003c\/em\u003e Enfant Terrible depicts an officer who was his own worst enemy but who was instrumental in winning an empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGallaher, John G.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn G. Gallaher\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor Emeritus of History at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and author of \u003cem\u003eNapoleon's Irish Legion\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Iron Marshall: A Biography of Louis N. Davout\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eGeneral Alexandre Dumas: Soldier of the French Revolution\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Oklahoma Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50461217980690,"sku":"9780806138756","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5ec9b425-6d73-4fc2-9dfe-ce8730e6f63c.jpg?v=1730060191","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/napoleons-enfant-terrible-general-dominique-vandamme-9780806138756","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}