A through if dry history of the end of the Napoleonic siege of Egypt. I thought it relied a little too heavily on lengthy journal passages but a really comprehensive book.

A highly specialized book, this focuses on the British armies that went to Egypt to stop the French army from controlling the area. Vague and rather demeaning nods are given to the locals: the Turks, the Mameluks, Bedouins, etc., and their respective contributions. Most of it focuses on details of which battalion went where, when, and which French battalion they confronted. A bit more detailed in military maneuvers than I like, and definitely only for the specialized researcher instead of the general history reader.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Immediately after reading Stuart Reid's "Egypt 1801," I read "Hitler's War in Africa 1941-1942" by David Mitchelhill-Green.

Green's book reminded me what good writing is - and that Reid lacks it.

Reid's book is ideal for the military historian who wants a blow-by-blow account of how Napoleon conquered and lost Egypt around 1801.
If you want to know that, then this is a 5-star book.

However, if you want a book that grips you with strong storylines, tension, characters, and excitement, then Green's book is better.

If your goal is to do a deep dive into Egypt in 1801, then this is the best book around for that.

A thorough and informative account of what happened in Egypt in 1801 during the Napoleonic Wars. Although I have an interest in the period generally, my knowledge of the military history is limited, so this was interesting for me, coming to it with little prior knowledge. However, there was enough information that I believe it would also be of interest to someone who was not coming to it as essentially a blank slate.

I have just completed my reading of an ARC of "Egypt 1801: The End of Napoleon's Eastern Empire" by Stuart Reid, published by Pen and Sword. I am very pleased to report that it is an old school military history of the campaign conducted by the British to evict the remnants of Napoleon's invasion force from Egypt prior to the signing of the Treaty of Amiens (which you will recall represents, essentially, a brief truce while Napoleon consolidated his hold on metropolitan France). This text focuses on the campaign primarily from a British point of view and is fascinating, not just because of its cast of characters but because of its telling of a tale often neglected in traditional histories of the period. For most of us, it is as though the Egyptian adventure just vanished when the soon to be emperor abandoned his troops in Egypt to return home, and this slim volume does a good job of illuminating this oft-overlooked bit of Napoleonic history. It is one of those cases where most of the information was news to me, and I am fairly well read in the Napoleonic period. At any rate, it is informative and often foreshadows the development of British responses, both military and diplomatic, to the sudden advent of the Napoleonic revolution in warfare. The scholar will find it both useful and fascinating while those just interested in a lighter read of 19th Century British military development will find it both accessible and worth the time.

An interesting read regarding a little know battle between Britain and France during Napoleons rule. The first hand accounts were great and allowed you to feel as if you were there.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The first campaign medal awarded to British soldiers is reckoned to be that given to those men who fought at Waterloo in 1815, but a decade and a half earlier a group of regiments were awarded a unique badge - a figure of a Sphinx - to mark their service in Egypt in 1801.

It was a fitting distinction, for the successful campaign was a remarkable one, fought far from home by a British army which had so far not distinguished itself in battle against Revolutionary France, and one moreover which had the most profound consequences in the Napoleonic wars to come.

In 1798 a quixotic French expedition led by a certain General Bonaparte not only to seize Egypt and consolidate French influence in the Mediterranean, but also to open up a direct route to Indian and provide an opportunity to destroy the East India Company and fatally weaken Great Britain.

In the event, General Bonaparte returned to France to mount a coup which would eventually see him installed as Emperor of the French, but behind him he abandoned his army, which remained in control of Egypt, still posing a possible threat to the East India Company, until in 1801 a large but rather heterogeneous British Army led by Sir Ralph Abercrombie landed and in a series of hard-fought battles utterly defeated the French.

Not only did this campaign establish the hitherto rather doubtful reputation of the British Army, and help secure India, but its capture en route of the islands of Malta gained Britain a base which would enable it to dominate the Mediterranean for the next century and a half.