Table of Contents
List of maps vi
Introduction vii
1 Matrices and Probabilities 1
Ways of war in the Age of Reason 1
Prussia: an army with its own country? 14
Frederick the Young, 1712-40 28
2 Wars for Silesia: 1740-45 38
A Province overrun 38
Austria's response 45
Peace, and war again 53
The Prussian army takes stock 67
Second round for Silesia 73
A province secured 84
3 Breathing Space and Renewals 90
Planning the next round 90
Men and weapons: Prussia's military infrastructure 95
'Train as you propose to fight': Prussia's military evolution between 1745 and 1756 105
The diplomatic revolution of 1756 116
4 Prussia Ascendant 135
Blitzkrieg without victory: September 1756-April 1757 135
The shock of victory, the agony of defeat: Prague and Kolin 148
France takes the field 167
A tide stemmed: the campaign of Rossbach 177
A corner turned: the Leuthen campaign 192
5 Years of Balance: 1758-59 207
The road to Zorndorf 207
Hochkirch: the unexpected bloody nose 221
Frederick takes stock 230
Kunersdorf: Russia takes centre stage 236
Maxen: symbol of decline 250
6 Prussia Contra Europe: 1760-63 260
Feints and initiatives: the summer campaign of 1760 260
Torgau: the final killing ground 281
1761: year of exhaustion 296
1762: the end-game 309
7 Coda: 1763-86 321
Prussia's recovery 321
Remodelling the army 328
Testing the deterrent 337
The last victory 348
Reflections 353
Further Reading 359
Index 366
Maps
1 Battle of Hohenfriedberg, 4 June 1745 82
2 Battle of Kolin, 18 June 1757 166
3 Battle of Leuthen, 5 December 1757 204
4 Battle of Kunersdorf, 12 August 1759 248
5 Battle of Torgau, 3 November 1760 294
General Map: The Wars of Frederick the Great 364
