Brave and ruthless in equal measures, this is a fascinating insight into the fighting lives of the legendary Polish Lancers who were unique in both their appearance and loyal service record.

This book draws on original regimental records to give by far the most detailed account ever published in English of the organization and personalities of the most renowned of the foreign units that served in the Emperor's armies. Unlike most of his foreign troops, these Polish horsemen were true volunteers, who owed their honoured place in his Imperial Guard to their proven courage and dash on battlefields from Spain to Russia.

The text is illustrated with rare portraits and photographs, and with detailed colour plates of the Lancers' magnificent uniforms.

Ronald Pawly was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1956. He is a respected member of several international societies for Napoleonic studies, and an expert on 19th century military portraiture. He is the author of the monumental The Red Lancers: Anatomy of a Napoleonic Regiment (Crowood Press, 1998), and of a study of Napoleonic veterans' tombs in Belgium.

Patrice Courcelle has been a professional illustrator for some 20 years. Entirely self-taught, he has illustrated many books and magazine articles for Continental publishers, and his work hangs in a number of public and private collections. His dramatic and lucid style has won him widespread admiration in the field of military illustration. Patrice lives a few miles from the battlefield of Waterloo.