When Frederick II (later known as Frederick the Great) came to the throne in 1740, he had three advantages for which he owed thanks to his father: a modern, well-organised state; full coffers; and a properly trained and equipped army.

Under a leader as renowned as Seydlitz, the Prussian cavalry achieved the nearest to a state of perfection that it was ever going to. So great was its reputation in the Seven Years'' War that Napoleon made a special point of warning his men at the beginning of the 1806 campaign to beware of the Prussian cavalry.

In this detailed volume, Peter Hofschröer''s text is accompanied by illustrations throughout.