Charles Nove

In 1809, with Napoleon and his best troops bogged down in Spain, Austria decided to try to get revenge for her humiliation at Austerlitz three years before. Archduke Charles led an invasion of France's ally Bavaria, but Napoleon raised fresh troops and transformed the strategic situation in four days of hard fighting along the Danube. But having taken Vienna, Napoleon's overconfidence led to a desperate battle at Aspern-Essling, resulting in his first major defeat as Emperor, and the death of his closest friend.

On a hot summer's day, near the town of Marengo, an advancing detachment of French soldiers find themselves facing 30,000 Austrians. Outmanned and outgunned, the French are soon fighting for their lives, and Napoleon faces an overwhelming defeat. But when last minute reinforcements arrive, victory may still be in sight...

In 1796, at the height of the Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon Bonaparte took command of French forces in northern Italy. He was just 26 years old and had never commanded an army before. Within weeks, he had turned his ragged, demoralised troops into a ferocious fighting force, defeating the Austrians and knocking Piedmont out of the war. With success, Napoleon began to believe it was his destiny to shape the fate of nations. In this series, we follow Napoleon's first glorious campaign step by step.

It was during this siege that young Napoleon Bonaparte first won fame and promotion when his plan, involving the capture of fortifications above the harbour, was credited with forcing the city to capitulate and the Anglo-Spanish fleet to withdraw.

In 1800, France's new First Consul - Napoleon Bonaparte - faces a precarious military situation, with huge Austrian armies poised to strike against the French Republic. But Napoleon will not wither in the face of such a crisis. Instead, he embarks on one of the most famous and daring strategic manoeuvres in history - a march across the Alps - to turn the tables on France's enemies

Part two of Napoleon in Egypt, rejoining the campaign as he faces imminent attack by a huge Ottoman army... but decides to take the fight to them.

In October 1813 Napoleon faced the combined might of the Sixth Coalition (Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden) near Leipzig, in what would prove to be the decisive battle of his career. Outnumbered, virtually encircled, Napoleon opted for a high-risk strategy of striking against Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia, before the other Coalition armies could come to his aid. The four-day Battle of Leipzig would be the largest and bloodiest battle in European history before the First World War, and one that changed the destiny of Europe.

November 1918. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, Russia is engulfed in a gigantic civil war. Lenin and the Reds hope to forge a new Soviet empire. His enemies, the Whites, look to their new leader Admiral Alexander Kolchak to avenge the murdered Tsar and save Russia from chaos. Kolchak is famed for his devotion to duty and 'the motherland', but faces a crisis of unimaginable proportions. Against the backdrop of a horrific civil war that claims millions of lives, he struggles for international support, military success, and ultimately, his own survival.

First engagement of the War of the Third Coalition and one of Napoleon’s greatest victories at Austerlitz in 1805.

Six weeks after his bloody repulse at the Battle of Aspern-Essling, Napoleon led his reinforced army back across the Danube. The resulting clash with Archduke Charles's Austrian army was the biggest and bloodiest battle yet seen in European history, and despite heavy French losses, resulted in a decisive strategic victory for the French Emperor

In the 6th century AD, during the reign of Emperor Justinian, the Roman Empire experienced an extraordinary resurgence, reconquering lands - including Italy, North Africa and Rome itself - that had been lost to the 'barbarians' a century before. Leading these campaigns, a brilliant Roman general named Flavius Belisarius - a skilled tactician, inspirational leader, pragmatic and humane. This is the story of those campaigns, as recorded by Procopius, an eyewitness to many of them, as well as other ancient historians, texts, and archaeological remains.

In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia with the largest army Europe had ever seen, composed of troops from France as well Poland, Germany, Italy and several other allied states. The campaign that followed saw the Russians use scorched earth tactics to deny the enemy supplies, while Napoleon advanced further and further into Russia, searching in vain for the decisive blow that would force Emperor Alexander to negotiate peace.

In 1798, during the French Revolutionary Wars, General Napoleon Bonaparte led a French expedition to Egypt. The plan was to conquer the wealthy province and deal a major blow to British interests in the Mediterranean. What followed was a campaign featuring legendary battles, ruthless occupation and immense hardship.

World War One 1914-1918: Epic History TV 2021 · 1 hr 7 min TV-MA Documentary A complete and detailed, big-picture history of “the war to end all wars,” using animated maps to explain every major campaign and battle. Starring Charles Nove Directed by Toby Groom

This is the complete overview of Alexander's conquests, a 10 year period of immense drama and historical significance, as the young Macedonian king's breathtaking achievements ushered in a new era in European and Middle Eastern history - the Hellenistic Age.

In 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte hoped to follow up his brilliant victories over Austria and Prussia with another decisive victory over the Russians in Poland. But amid freezing winter conditions, his attempted encirclement of General Bennigsen's Russian army near the East Prussian town of Eylau led, instead, to one of the most notorious battles of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in terrible conditions, with appalling losses on both sides.

In 1813, following his disastrous invasion of Russia, Napoleon faced a desperate battle to save his empire. His enemies were gaining in strength, as Prussia and Sweden joined the Sixth Coalition against him, while Russian armies advanced across Poland and into Germany. The French Emperor worked miracles to raise a new Grande Armée of young conscripts, leading them to victory at Lützen and Bautzen. But Napoleon knew everything might ultimately depend on Austria - which side would his father-in-law, Austrian Emperor Francis I, chose to support? The matter would settled after a fateful and ill-tempered meeting in Dresden between Napoleon and Austrian foreign minister von Metternich...

Aiming to strike a major blow against British interests in the Mediterranean, Napoleon Bonaparte leads an expeditionary force to conquer Egypt. But Britain still has the most powerful navy in the world.. and they are in pursuit.

This is Epic History's guide to HMS Victory, one of the most famous warships in history, and flagship of Vice Admiral Nelson at his decisive victory over the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. In this episode we look at the composition of naval crews, and how they sailed, fought and lived aboard a warship like Victory.

From the origins of Rus to the Revolution, a whirlwind story of Russia’s dramatic past told through animated maps over the course of two millennia.

A quick guide to infantry tactics and formations of the Napoleonic period, which first appeared in our video on the Battle of Aspern. In this video we try to explain why lining up shoulder-to-shoulder was not as stupid as it first seems, and how different formations were used to maximise firepower, mobility and defence. All achieved through the miracle of drill.

In 1812 French forces in Spain were severely overstretched, as Napoleon withdrew the best troops for his invasion of Russia. Wellington saw an opportunity to strike. First he secured the strategic fortress-cities of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, both taken in bloody assaults, then advanced to Salamanca, where his Anglo-Portuguese army met Marshal Marmont's French army in one of the most decisive clashes of the Peninsular War.

In 1799, the young French Republic faced war with a coalition of European enemies, and an unpopular and corrupt government at home. In the midst of disorder, military hero Napoleon Bonaparte returns from his campaign in Egypt. He has built a formidable reputation, he is adored by the people, and is viewed an essential ally for those vying for power. But Napoleon has his own ambitions, and on one famous day in November, he will take decisive action to make them a reality. This is the full story of the Brumaire Coup - a day that changed the course of French history.

In 1809, as Napoleon fought the Austrians at Wagram, the war in Spain and Portugal continued to rage. The French had inflicted several heavy defeats on Spanish field armies, but now they faced a popular insurgency as well as a well-trained Anglo-Portuguese army led by British general Lord Wellington. The Peninsular War, as became known, became Napoleon's 'bleeding ulcer', or his Vietnam, costing his empire nearly quarter of a million soldiers, in a war that looked increasingly unwinnable.