Prussia's Glory

Rossbach and Leuthen are included in the Great Battles of History. Frederick made himself one of the Great Captains by these victories. Prussian military prowess became legendary. The Franco-German army swept away at Rossbach, and the Austrian army routed at Leuthen, were not only larger and had a fair share of professional soldiers, but the Austrians had beaten the Prussians not long before. So how were they so humiliated? What made Frederick Great? For more than a century people believed it was because the Prussians were just naturally suited for war. Until 1945 many Germans, and their foes, remembered how Frederick miraculously saved Prussia against overwhelming odds, by marching through the snow towards Leuthen church. As always, it was not so simple. The expert on 18th-century armies, Christopher Duffy, shows why French, Austrian and Reichsarmee soldiers, though often enough brave and skilful, marched to defeat, and how Frederick, often unaware of the legend he was creating, won these famous battles. It is no longer left to myth, but to reliable accounts of hard fighting, quick decisions, and the fate of the soldiers and civilians swept up by the fighting.

"Any book on eighteenth century warfare and campaigns by Christopher Duffy can be relied upon to be scholarly, yet very readable and enlivened by his pithy comments, such as “..Hildburghausen was built like a gorilla.” and “The [French] army was managed by cowards who acted in the name of a spineless king.” This entertaining and detailed narrative of Frederick II of Prussia’s two victories in 1757 can be enjoyed by any reader with an interest in eighteenth century military history but will be particularly welcomed by wargamers with Prussian armies of the Seven Years’ War who seek to emulate der Alte Fritz on their tabletop miniature battlefields." Miniature Wargames Magazine