First Total War

David A. Bell teaches French history at Johns Hopkins University and is the author of Lawyers and Citizens, which won the Pinkney Prize of the Society for French Historical Studies, and the highly acclaimed The Cult of the Nation in France. He has contributed to many American and European publications including the New York Times, Time, the Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and two children.

'A brilliantly original work of military history' Sunday Times 'Masterly ... This is an unmissable book' Christopher Bray, Word 'An enthralling, multi-layered analysis ... Perhaps the most thought-provoking aspects of the book are those that draw parallels with more recent times' Daily Telegraph 'He goes into great and often riveting detail ... all offered with a gift for storytelling and a flair for the weird, unfamiliar fact' New Yorker