The Garde Francaise 1580-1789 - 10 Pages of text, 28 color plates, one black and white. Raised in 1563 as the personal Guard of the monarch, then Charles IX, the Gardes Francaise became the senior fighting corps of the French Royal Army. They served with distinction in every war from the Thirty Years War onwards, many times upholding the honor of the entire French Army. At Fontenoy they defeated the British Guards after a legendary exchange of courtesies as to who would fire first. As the waves of revolution swept through France in the late seventeen eighties they finally succumbed to the pressure and turned on their sovereign and were with the mob at the storming of the Bastille. This may be the first time that an account of the Garde Francaise has appeared in English. The book presents the history, organization and uniforms of this famous corps along with illustrations from Lienhart & Humbert, , Knötel, Large, Marbot, JOB, Braun & Schneider and Paschal. - Uniformology Uniform Books