History: Reviews of New Books ISSN: 0361-2759 (Print) 1930-8280 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vhis20 The Military Enlightenment: War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon Jonathan Abel To cite this article: Jonathan Abel (2018) The Military Enlightenment: War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon, History: Reviews of New Books, 46:5, 129-129, DOI: 10.1080/03612759.2018.1489693 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03612759.2018.1489693 Published online: 05 Oct 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 11 View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vhis20 September 2018, Volume 46, Number 5 129 Cotta), for it offers a highly different aimed at “propos[ing] and implement[- nationalistic arguments of writers picture of Junger€ ’s Fronterlebnis than ing] a myriad of reforms” (2). This such as Guibert within the that found in the numerous editions of would regenerate the military, allowing Enlightenment mania for classifying his romanticized and selective auto- it to resume its proper place at the apex the martial abilities of states accord- biography, Storm of Steel, first pub- of European militaries. Elements of ing to national character, specific- lished in German in 1920. masculinity, colonial others, and bur- ally, contrasting France with Prussia. geoning ideas of nationhood and citi- The Military Enlightenment is a HOLGER H. HERWIG zenship also manifested in the military valuable addition to the historiography University of Calgary enlightenment and its writers, illustrat- of the Enlightenment. Pichichero Copyright © 2018 Taylor & Francis ing their location within the larger builds on previous works by David D. Enlightenment. Bien, Rafe Blaufarb, and Julia Osman Pichichero finds government that argue, similarly, for locating mili- Pichichero, Christy ministers such as Marc-Pierre de tary theory and philosophy within the The Military Enlightenment: War Voyer de Paulmy, comte d’Argenson, Enlightenment. (See David D. Bien, and Culture in the French Empire and Claude-Louis, comte de et al., Caste, Class, and Profession in from Louis XIV to Napoleon Saint-Germain, not content with mere Old Regime France: The French Army Ithaca: Cornell University Press philosophizing, but working with and the Segur Reform of 1781 [Centre 318 pp., $48.00, Louis XV and Louis XVI to effect for French History and Culture 2010]; ISBN 978-1501709296 reform and create military institutions Rafe Blaufarb, TheFrenchArmy, Publication Date: November 2017 founded on the Enlightenment princi- 1750–1820: Careers, Talent, Merit ples of reason, definition, and control. [Manchester University Press 2002]; The Military Enlightenment: War and In so doing, these various statesmen and Julia Osman, “Patriotism as Culture in the French Empire from would produce a military that was Power: The Old Regime Foundation Louis XIV to Napoleon offers a survey more effective at both winning battles for Napoleon’sArmy,” International of French Enlightenment military and reducing war’simpact. Congress of Military History theory and philosophy during the Pichichero’s arguments contrast Conference Proceedings 2009.) eighteenth century. Author Christy sharply with revolutionary historiog- Pichichero also continues the work of Pichichero, assistant professor in mod- raphy, which finds stark differences in Jean Colin and Isser Woloch in argu- ern and Classical languages at George the periods before and after 1789. ing for continuity in thought and his- Mason University, draws on her back- Pichichero makes an evolutionary toriography from 1715 to 1815 and ground in French and literary studies argument, noting the continuities from beyond, rather than the sharp temporal to examine the writings on military the Old Regime through the delineations of revolutionary argu- affairs of various Enlightenment Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. In ments. (See Jean Colin, L’education figures such as Voltaire; Jacques- particular, she finds that the “the ideal militaire de Napoleon [R. Chapelot Antoine-Hippolyte, comte de Guibert; of the citizen-soldier and a nation of 1901] and L’infanterie au XVIIIe and Maurice de Saxe. She seeks to warriors imagined by thinkers of the siecle. La tactique [Berger-Levrault demonstrate that the Enlightenment military enlightenment” manifested in 1907], and Isser Woloch, The New and military thought were not separate the Revolutionary armies (197). She Regime: Transformations of the phenomena, as often intimated in concludes that Napoleon embodied the French Civic Order, 1789–1820s historiography but, rather, inseparable, virtues (and vices) of the military [W.W. Norton & Co. 1994].) She comprising the “military enlightenment, both as a man and in draws from a wide variety of sources enlightenment.” As a result, she makes his state. in her research, including archival an evolutionary argument that the Specialist and hobbyist readers of works and many printed primary sour- Enlightenment project and the various Enlightenment and military history ces. These range from military philo- reform efforts from 1715 to 1789, and will find much to like in The sophes such as Guibert and Puysegur into the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Military Enlightenment and its lively to Voltaire; Pierre-Ambroise-Franc¸ois periods, were largely synonymous. engagement with its source material. Choderlos de Laclos; and Donatien- he traditional picture of the French Some readers may balk at the work’s Alphonse-Franc¸ois, marquis de Sade. military during the eighteenth century neglect of the importance of Prussia In casting such a wide net, Pichichero is one of a gradual slide into ineptitude, in its analysis. Almost every tract effectively proves her thesis, and her ossification, and noble reactionary-ism, published after 1740 specifically work is highly recommended. mirroring the long collapse of the Old posits the need for enlightened Regime. Pichichero challenges this reform in France as resulting from notion, positing, instead, a “military the dominance of Prussian arms, yet JONATHAN ABEL enlightenment,” defined as the search references to Prussia are infrequent. US Army Command and General by many writers for “a deep under- Following from this, the book also Staff College standing of war and the military” misses an opportunity to place the Copyright © 2018 Taylor & Francis.