Napoleon has often been considered to misunderstand the navy. Being an artillery officer, he was given to precise calculations and never quite accepted that the wind was more important to ships than his orders. However, thanks to the Emperor's pragmatic measures during 1800-1801, the French navy emerged from chaos for the first time in over a decade. The history and uniform of Napoleon's sea soldiers is here explored by René Chartrand, in this worthy edition to Osprey's Men-at-Arms series, with a wealth of illustrations including eight full page colour plates by Francis Back.