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Waterloo: The Truth At Last: Why Napoleon Lost the Great Battle
"[A] book that everyone should have in their library..." ― A Wargamers Needful Things
During October 2016 Paul Dawson visited French archives in Paris to continue his research surrounding the events of the Napoleonic Wars. Some of the material he examined had never been accessed by researchers or historians before, the files involved having been sealed in 1816. These seals remained unbroken until Paul was given permission to break them to read the contents.
Forget what you have read about the battle on the Mont St Jean on 18 June 1815; it did not happen that way. The start of the battle was delayed because of the state of the ground – not so. Marshal Ney destroyed the French cavalry in his reckless charges against the Allied infantry squares – wrong. The stubborn defense of Hougoumont, the key to Wellington’s victory, where a plucky little garrison of British Guards held the farmhouse against the overwhelming force of Jerome Bonaparte’s division and the rest of II Corps – not true. Did the Union Brigade really destroy d’Erlon’s Corps, did the Scots Greys actually attack a massed French battery, did La Haie Sainte hold out until late in the afternoon?
All these and many more of the accepted stories concerning the battle are analyzed through accounts (some 200 in all) previously unpublished, mainly derived through French sources, with startling conclusions. Most significantly of all is the revelation of exactly how, and why, Napoleon was defeated.
Waterloo, The Truth at Last demonstrates, through details never made available to the general public before, how so much of what we think we know about the battle simply did not occur in the manner or to the degree previously believed. This book has been described as ‘a game changer’, and is certain to generate enormous interest, and will alter our previously-held perceptions – forever.
During October 2016 Paul Dawson visited French archives in Paris to continue his research surrounding the events of the Napoleonic Wars. Some of the material he examined had never been accessed by researchers or historians before, the files involved having been sealed in 1816. These seals remained unbroken until Paul was given permission to break them to read the contents.
Forget what you have read about the battle on the Mont St Jean on 18 June 1815; it did not happen that way. The start of the battle was delayed because of the state of the ground – not so. Marshal Ney destroyed the French cavalry in his reckless charges against the Allied infantry squares – wrong. The stubborn defense of Hougoumont, the key to Wellington’s victory, where a plucky little garrison of British Guards held the farmhouse against the overwhelming force of Jerome Bonaparte’s division and the rest of II Corps – not true. Did the Union Brigade really destroy d’Erlon’s Corps, did the Scots Greys actually attack a massed French battery, did La Haie Sainte hold out until late in the afternoon?
All these and many more of the accepted stories concerning the battle are analyzed through accounts (some 200 in all) previously unpublished, mainly derived through French sources, with startling conclusions. Most significantly of all is the revelation of exactly how, and why, Napoleon was defeated.
Waterloo, The Truth at Last demonstrates, through details never made available to the general public before, how so much of what we think we know about the battle simply did not occur in the manner or to the degree previously believed. This book has been described as ‘a game changer’, and is certain to generate enormous interest, and will alter our previously-held perceptions – forever.
568 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2023
8 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 13, 2021
This is a really fine history of what happened at Waterloo with a great deal of new material. If you are interested in the actual battle - incidents, tactics, major events, why Wellington and Blucher won there is a tremendous amount of new material here including stats from the French that apparently were never published before.
If you just want to know the overview (Napoleon attacked the British, hoping to break their line then pivot to deal with the Prussians. The British held the line. The Prussians showed up and Napoleon lost.) this book isn't for you. The book clearly explains, step by step, what mistakes Napoleon made, and why his army wasn't up to it.
IF you're a war game fan, this is probably a must read to understand what went wrong and what went right.
If you just want to know the overview (Napoleon attacked the British, hoping to break their line then pivot to deal with the Prussians. The British held the line. The Prussians showed up and Napoleon lost.) this book isn't for you. The book clearly explains, step by step, what mistakes Napoleon made, and why his army wasn't up to it.
IF you're a war game fan, this is probably a must read to understand what went wrong and what went right.
September 25, 2025
I'll start with the book's biggest flaw: Paul Dawson clearly has an axe to grind about the battle, and about the French Guard participation. While a little distracting at times, it doesn't detract from the overall value of the book. Using an impressive array of first-person accounts (including many that are privately held) and the surviving French after-battle loss reports, he goes through literally every battalion, squadron, and regiment in the battle and details the part it played.
That is a stunning and eye-opening feat that reveals a lot of detail that has been previously mis represented. The battles for Hugomont take on a whole new shape with a very different focus, particularly in the early phases where the French attempted to outflank the wood and assault the chateau from the west, not resorting to assaults from the woods until quite a bit later.
Likewise, the battle against the Nassauers and Prussians on the eastern flank takes on far more nuance, with the Young Guard initially being committed against Samohain to hold Lobau's northern flank when Ist Corps started failing to hold back the Nassauers around Papelot. The brigade committed here continued to fight on Lobau's left for the remainder of the battle, holding the critical juncture in the French lines.
Even the much studied D'Erlon's Charge gains a lot more clarity when the battalion-by battalion losses are compared with personal accounts.
All-in-all a great book flawed by being a little tedious and the aforementioned axe being ground.
That is a stunning and eye-opening feat that reveals a lot of detail that has been previously mis represented. The battles for Hugomont take on a whole new shape with a very different focus, particularly in the early phases where the French attempted to outflank the wood and assault the chateau from the west, not resorting to assaults from the woods until quite a bit later.
Likewise, the battle against the Nassauers and Prussians on the eastern flank takes on far more nuance, with the Young Guard initially being committed against Samohain to hold Lobau's northern flank when Ist Corps started failing to hold back the Nassauers around Papelot. The brigade committed here continued to fight on Lobau's left for the remainder of the battle, holding the critical juncture in the French lines.
Even the much studied D'Erlon's Charge gains a lot more clarity when the battalion-by battalion losses are compared with personal accounts.
All-in-all a great book flawed by being a little tedious and the aforementioned axe being ground.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews