Fire and Blood over the Alps

Pietralunga 1744 is an operational analysis of the highest-altitude major engagement of the early modern era. It explores how a Franco-Spanish coalition overcame extreme Alpine terrain, logistical crises, and a deeply entrenched Sardinian defence to secure a legendary victory.

Fought at altitudes exceeding 2,400 meters in the shadow of the majestic Monviso peak, the Battle of Pietralunga (Pierrelongue) remains the greatest French military success ever achieved in an Alpine operational context. Yet this monumental clash remains almost entirely unknown to the English-speaking world. Building upon the success of You Have to Die in Piedmont!, this volume restores the 1744 campaign to its rightful place in military historiography.

Moving beyond simple narrative, Giovanni Cerino Badone utilises extensive primary archival sources, cartographic reconstructions, and modern manoeuvre theory to dissect this ‘impossible’ campaign. From the gruelling physics of hand-carrying powder and shot up vertical slopes to the devastating technological failure of Sardinian ammunition, every dimension of command under extreme environmental stress is laid bare. Pietralunga 1744 offers a gripping, cinematic narrative of human endurance alongside enduring tactical lessons in coalition friction, operational reach, and distributed manoeuvre in non-permissive terrain. It is essential reading for historians of the War of the Austrian Succession, enthusiasts of Alpine warfare, and modern military professionals seeking timeless insights into combat under constraint.