[AUSTRIAN MILITARY BOOK ON THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR OF 1768-1774] Der russisch - türkische Krieg, 1768-1774. With 7 sketched lithographic maps. [i.e. The Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774]

RICHARD UNGERMANN, Wilhelm Braumüller (Fromme), Vienna and Leipzig, 1906.

Contemporary half brown cloth with gilt spine title and marbled boards, bookbinder's label on front pastedown (Hans Ehrenfeldner, Mödling). Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In German. [vi], 268 p., seven folded sheets (23,5:19,5 cm) with sketched maps, pocketed in a rear strap depicting military operations in detail. Lithography on glossy paper (maps) and letterpress on strong machine paper. Cover in parts very slightly worn, otherwise a fine copy.

First and only edition of this important and comprehensive historical account by Richard Ungermann, a teacher at the Vienna Imperial and the Royal Technical Military Academy, focuses on strategic, tactical, and technical questions in order to explain the unexpected success of the Russian Army, who was strongly outnumbered by the Ottoman Empire. and particularly rare study on the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 from the perspective of Austrian military science, complete with all 7 sketched maps of military operations. Until today Ungermann's study is widely accepted as the "most comprehensive introduction to the war" (Scott).

The Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 was a major armed conflict that saw Russian arms largely victorious against the Ottoman Empire. Russia's victory brought part of Moldavia, the Yedisan between the rivers Bug and Dnieper, and Crimea into the Russian sphere of influence. Though a series of victories accrued by the Russian Empire led to substantial territorial conquests, including direct conquest over much of the Pontic-Caspian steppe, less Ottoman territory was directly annexed than might otherwise be expected due to a complex struggle within the European diplomatic system to maintain a balance of power that was acceptable to other European states and avoided direct Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe. (Wikipedia).

Though well represented in institutional holdings this book is particularly hard to find in trade, as of June 2022 JAP/APO and RBH show no auction results at all for the last decades.

Sources: H. M. Scott, The Emergence of the Eastern Powers, 1756-1775, Cambridge 2001, p. 195.