Radetzky

It was Radetzky, too, at the age of eighty-two, who defeated the Italians in 1848 and 1849 and thus saved Europe once again from the prospect of international war and revolution.

The wars Radetzky fought -- and won -- throughout his extensive military career were of the greatest possible significance in European history, yet today, he is almost forgotten - remembered only in the music of the Radetzky March, dedicated to him by Johann Strauss the elder. In this, the first biography of Radetzky to be published in English, Alan Sked paints a vivid picture of an exceptional, yet neglected commander of genius in a book which will be fascinating reading for enthusiasts of military and modern European history.