Fought for a decade between 1792 - 1802, the French Revolutionary Wars are often treated as a simple prequel to the Napoleonic Wars, or as aside to the French Revolution. In reality, these ten years of conflict transformed the style of military activity across Europe. This new volume, from the Osprey 'Essential Histories' series, provides a superb general introduction to the topic and its place in European history.

Within the covers of this tight glossy book, the author has created an excellent range of material. The volume's introduction sets the Revolutionary Wars in a broad context, before providing a concise timeline and solid background. A mixture of narrative and discussion follows, divided into several intuitive sections, including "The fighting" and "How the war ended". However, the book avoids a wholly chronological format: the opening sections assume that the reader knows the book is about a war, and refers to one immediately. This might seem like a bizarre statement, but some books take a reader through events as they happened, introducing elements only as they occurred. The French Revolutionary Wars avoids this, always reminding a reader of the part each event played in later events (such as the Napoleonic Wars).

The text accompanies its facts, events and descriptions with quotations from many primary sources and, although there is little detail relating to each battle, there are plenty of mini-biographies and other important information, such as the general changes in warfare, as well as the broader contexts/consequences. Naval actions are given specialist treatment, and there is an intriguing account of Emma Hamilton's life during the conflict. Again, the content is perfect for an introductory work - you could probably read and understand this volume with no prior knowledge of the period - and detailed battlefield analyses belongs in other volumes.

Complementing the text perfectly are many glorious illustrations and full colour maps. Fremont-Barnes' style is friendly but knowing, eloquent but chatty, taking the perfect line between scholarly precision and friendly explanation. Conversely, the style isn't compelling, and seasoned readers may find the tone off-putting.

Overall, The French Revolutionary Wars is a splendid overview on a largely overlooked topic, and the volume's pictorial and cartographic content will still be in use when the reader has moved on to more complex accounts.