Victory or defeat on the Napoleonic battlefield was dependant on the skills, reactions and personalities of individual commanders.

Even under a military genius such as Bonaparte, the dispersal of his armies on campaign and the lack of fast communications left command and control of the different corps and divisions in the hands of his marshals and generals.

Illustrating the appearance of more than two dozen of Napoleon's leading colleagues and subordinate commanders, this first in a pair of Elite titles describes in concise but colourful detail their careers and personalities in the Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic campaigns up to 1809.