Into Bohemia with the 28th!: The Diary of Peter Wilhelm Molitor, a Prussian Infantryman During the Campaign of 1866

Unpublished diaries from soldiers in the Campaign of 1866 are extremely rare. "Into Bohemia with the 28th!" presents just such a diary - that penned by Peter Wilhelm Molitor, an infantryman serving with the 28th Prussian Line Infantry Regiment, based at Aachen, in the Rhineland. In lively and vivid prose, Peter describes mobilisation, the outbreak of war, the Regiment's move to the theatre of war, the advance through Bohemia, and his participation in the epic Battle of Koniggratz. There are accounts of hard marches, shortages of food and tobacco, the effects of war on the men and the countryside all around them, and much other fascinating and rarely-read detail. Handed down through generations of his family, the diary was re-transcribed several times, and parts of the original lost. The text has been carefully reconstructed from the various transcriptions, including the original diary. The original words of Peter are complemented by detailed footnotes and commentary, as well as a gazetteer. This book will be produced in a limited-edition hardback printing of 500 copies, all individually numbered and signed by the editors, Duncan Rogers, and Walter P. Zahl, Peter Molitor's great-grandson. "Into Bohemia with the 28th!" is complemented by a number of images, new maps, and supplementary information relating to Peter's Regiment, the 28th during the Campaign. Publication of this title marks a major contribution to the available literature for this fascinating yet little-explored conflict.