'Talty tells a dark and gruesome tale, in which man's inhumanity to man is equalled by a merciless microbe.'

'In this riveting book, experienced writer Stephan Talty documents how the lowly, miserable, lethal typhus microbe destroyed Napoleon Bonaparte's plan to conquer Russia in 1812 ... Talty's focused, taut account will come as a revelation to the American general public and even to many students of military history as well ... Talty has performed a great public service by rescuing this vital story from the obscurity into which it had fallen. He has also produced a compulsive, terrifying book. Compared to the horrors he documents, The Silence of the Lambs is bedtime reading for children. Highly recommended.'

'A fast-paced sketch of this disastrous campaign, The Illustrious Dead is a military history that treats typhus as an invisible army on the battlefield, silently slaughtering hundreds of thousands of French soldiers, frustrating Napoleon's ambition, weakening his reign and changing the course of European history ... Breezy rather than exhaustive, Dead will be enjoyed by armchair historians, if not the squeamish.'

'Talty delivers a breezy, popular account of a gruesome campaign, emphasizing the equally gruesome epidemic that accompanied it.'

'This ultimate David and Goliath story pits Napoleon's empire of 45 million subjects against the six-legged common body louse, Pediculus humanus corporis, and explains how the louse, in which the typhus microbe lives, found the perfect breeding ground in the massed ranks of the weary, itching Grande Armee.'

'Pandemics, bioterrorism, death, destruction and intrigue: what else could one ask for ... This book is history come alive, It is history full of violence, religion, medicine and tactics. It is an uncensored account of a gruesome epidemic that brought to a disastrous end Napoleon Bonaparte's plans to conquer Russia in 1812 ... Many an armchair historian will devour this book with glee, but not if squeamish.'

'Talty's subtitle is not sensationalist hyperbole.This is a truly terrifying story that will challenge readers who might be overwhelmed by revelations of the most gruesome details of "total war." Overcoming revulsion at vivid descriptions of agonizing human experience is rewarded, however, by Talty's captivating narrative and plausible thesis about events that profoundly changed 19th-century history. The story of Napoleon's ill-fated 1812 invasion of Russia has been analyzed from almost every historiographical angle, making all the main events of the campaign and its historical consequences well known. But Talty's talented recounting of two interweaving actors, total warfare and bacteria, turns this familiar story into a charismatic suspense thriller unfolding a futile tragedy that nevertheless dramatically reconfigured the 19th-century structure of European political and colonial power.'

' The Illustrious Dead is a fascinating read and well recommended to anyone with an interest in Napoleon, European history or the impact of disease on military endeavour.'