The Battle Book - Volume 1

May 1809. Napoleon’s Grande Armée has taken Vienna and is preparing to cross
the Danube, but the Austrians are waiting for him in Essling. The carnage can
begin … Louis-François Lejeune, young colonel attached to the emperor’s staff,
meets his old friend Henri Beyne in occupied Vienna. He also meets the
beautiful Anna Krauss, with whom he is madly in love with. Nearby, though,
Napoleon is attempting to crush the Austrian army, and organising the crossing
of the Danube for his troops on a single pontoon bridge hurriedly erected near
Essling. Louis-François is forced to abandon his love and return to the front
– and the coming firestorm …