Waterloo 1815: Wavre, Plancenoit and the Race to Paris

by Peter Hofschröer

Histories of the Waterloo campaign and tours of the battlefield generally concentrate on the battle between the armies of Napoleon and Wellington - the role of Blucher's Prussians is left in the background. Peter Hofschoer's fascinating account focuses on the Prussians at the Battle of Waterloo and on their critical but often neglected contribution to the battle. He tells the story of the grueling Prussian advance towards the battlefield and he records the ferocious and decisive fight that broke out when they arrived. At every stage he allows the reader to follow in the footsteps of the Prussian soldiers as they struggled across the Belgian countryside almost 200 years ago."

Genres: History

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 19, 2006

Reviews

[Laurence Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender? ABBA were poor historians, this book covers the lesser known actions of the Waterloo campaign, the Prussian advance on Plancenoit and Grouchy's holding action at Wavre that allowed an ordered retreat on Paris. Hofschroer is known for giving the Prussians the credit they deserve for the campaign, and the coverage of the sieges in France as part of the ending of the war in 1815 is a useful reminder that Waterloo was not an isolated event.

[An Anglo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a particularly long book so don't expect an extremely in depth account. In particular it has very little information on the early engagements. Where this book is very strong is the accounts of the combat following the French defeat at Waterloo. Most books on this campaign wrap on quickly after the main battle but these one goes into detail on all of the Prussian engagements in the months that followed the campaign. I was surprised at the length of time it took to take some of the forts and that some would only surrender to the French King and not the Prussians. I would recommend this to someone who is interested in German history and wants on account of this campaign that doesn't retread the ground of most British focused accounts.

[Ricardo Portella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lacks maps

The book gives more details about the march from Wavre to Waterloo by the German army of Blucher. It is interesting,but the lack of good maps is a major fault. Also the description of the battle for Planchenoit is very poor. A strong point of the book is the account of the remainder of Waterloo campaign with the submission of the rest of the French army and the capitulation of Paris.