A History of Napoleonic and American Prisoners of War 1756-1816 (2 Volume Set)

These two large and well-illustrated histories consider the often-ignored role of the prisoner of war in the later 18th century and the turn of the 19th. In the first volume, Part One tells of the various wars that saw men from many different countries become prisoners; Part Two is largely devoted to prison hulks, describing the vessels and the conditions on board that the prisoners endured; Part Three focuses on the depots and prisons on land. The second volume, with the bulk of the illustrations, catalogs an extensive collection of boxes, miniatures, and automata, made by these idled men from bone, straw, and paper, as well as paintings now much in demand. Many come from the author's own collection, one of the largest private collections of prisoner of war artifacts in the world.