Waterloo 1815: The Birth of Modern Europe

Osprey Campaign #15

by Geoffrey Wootten

Osprey's study of the most famous battle of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). Waterloo holds a special place among the great battles of history. The climax of more than twenty years of war, it was indeed a close-run affair, matching two of the world's greatest generals - Napoleon and Wellington. This volume covers the entire campaign including the battles of Quatre Bras, Ligny and Wavre, with five full-colour maps and three highly detailed bird's eye views showing decisive moments in the action. An excellent sense of the closeness of the battle is communicated - Wellington himself claimed it was "the nearest thing you ever saw in your life" - and this gripping account shows the full justice of that statement.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, France, British Literature, Belgium

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 1992

About the author

Geoffrey Wootten is an acknowledged expert on the Napoleonic period and has written a number of articles and books on the subject.

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg]

One of the earliest of the "Campaign" Series from Osprey Publishing, #15, in fact, was this classic, first published in 1992. It covers, rather ably, the Waterloo Campaign, and may be one of those "Holy Grail" Books I Love- the "Only Book You Need to Wargame/Model a Campaign". This one might come as close as any- with one glaring issue. But for the novice who wants to comprehend the campaign in an easy format- to the Napoleonic die hard military Enthusiast- who wants a great little guide to visiting the battlefields in Belgium - to the Warhammer player- dragged into playing a Napoleonic game down at the club- this single book can address those needs.

It's all here- the secape from Elba- the 100 Days - the Advance to try and defeat one army or the other really quickly- the Allied stand and Quatre Bras- the Prussians at Wavre and Ligny - and then the "Close Run Thing" on the ridge at Waterloo. Throughout- there are great battle diagrams, maps, b/w pictures and really lovely colour plates - taken from their other regimental and army books on the units present. The only drawback is the Prussian and Allied LINE units are featured- the regular troops that made up the bulk of their armies- but the French plates feature ONLY GUARD units, the elite troops of the empire who made up less than 10% of the army. The reader will need a source on the Dutch-Belgian Allied soldiers- and French Line Fusiliers and Voltiguers, the Line and Light units that made up the army- otherwise this book alone will let you build a good force.

For the junior reader- this is a great little introduction to the period. Any reader down to about 10 should be able to glean the basics. For the Gamer/modeller/military Enthusiast- a good score!. Plenty to read and enjoy- even a very nice actual battlefield guide at the end and a chronology to help to get the big ideas. A strong recommendation.

[Okan Ergul]

I liked this book. It gives attention to detail while drawing a general picture of the war (including "before the war" and some finalizing information). Hence I got a general view of the war from a specialist of that era.

[Vircenguetorix]

Le he dado tres estrellas pero podría tener cinco si realmente te interesa al detalle la batalla de Waterloo. Es decir, es una obra muy certera y detallada sobre lo que ocurrió ese 18 de junio de 1814, donde cambió o nació la Europa contemporánea. El libro como todos los de Osprey Military es una joya, pero quizás en mi caso me apasiona menos este volumen por ser más táctico y menos estratégico. Se echa de menos algo más de preámbulo y situación previa, que la hay, pero para mi gusto insuficiente.

En cuanto a la batalla en sí, está claro que el retraso en el comienzo de las hostilidades por parte de Napoléon fue clave, entre que no estaba bien de salud, y se levantó algo más tarde, la lluvia, que hizo que esperaran algo a que amainara, hizo que el ejército francés perdiese un tiempo precioso, que hizo que Blücher se fuera acercando, con una marcha que ha pasado a la historia por su rapidez.

No estuvo tan lejos la posible victoria de Napoleón en Waterloo, solo que tenían que producirse muchas circunstancias bien, y pocas en contra, al final el juego de la oca no suele salir bien.

Como siempre magníficos las ilustraciones y grabados que aparecen en el libro, y una información cartográfica muy consistente para aquellos que quieran recrear la batalla en algún wargame. Por cierto, la mejor película sobre el tema es la dirigida por Sergei Bondarchuk en 1970 bajo el mismo título de la batalla, "Waterloo". Una muy desconocida obra maestra, que desde luego, completa de forma magnífica la lectura del libro de Wootten,

Desde mi punto de vista, no es de los mejores de la colección, pero tiene tantos atractivos, que es imposible que no te atraiga y disfrutes con su lectura y atractivo visual.

[Declan Waters]

Waterloo was the culmination of the Napoleonic Wars known to contempories as the 'Great War' 100 years before the 1st World War would ravage Europe. Napoleon had return from Elba to command the French forces against the British, Prussians and their Allies.

This book from Osprey/Wooten guides the reader through the events of the battles leading to Waterloo and the culmination. With maps, lots of good quality pictures, and the knowledge of the author it explains the movements, conflicts, and defeats of the 100 days of Napoleon's return.

A great addition to the information of Waterloo, with the maps of the events making understanding easier and allowing explanation of the results of Napoleon's last battle.

[Jill]

I'd been wanting to read a non - fiction account of the Battle of Waterloo since reading Simon Scarrow's 'Wellington and Napoleon' series of fiction books and I thought this one might be a good choice as I didn't want a huge volume and I think the 'Osprey' series of books are ideal. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew the battle was 'A near run thing' but didn't realise how close it had been and how easily the end result might have had a different outcome.

[R.M.F. Brown]

Absolute gem of a book.

Having read many an Osprey Campaign book over the years, this is one of the best. To take such a vast and complex battle such as Waterloo, and provide such a detailed and general summary in around ninety-six pages, takes some doing, but Wootten has done it with aplomb. The maps are good, the colour plates are a great reference for the miniature wargamer/painter and it's a great read to boot.

An absolute textbook example of how to do an Osprey Campaign book.

[Lewis Webb]

Great introduction that summarizes the leading causes of the outcome of the battle. Great diagrams and portraits to show the characters, positions and conditions.

[Michael Smith]

Waterloo, in June 1815, was one of the key battles in European history in its long-term effects, but it didn’t take place in isolation. It was the culmination of a campaign that began with Napoleon’s return from exile on the island of Elba the previous March -- the Hundred Days -- and the battles at Quatre Bras, Vigny, and Wavre also are covered in detail. Caught off-guard, the Allies under Wellington and a few senior allied commanders hurriedly gathered their forces. Numerically, they outnumbered the 128,000 men who flocked to the Emperor’s standard, but they were divided in command and many of the men and officers were lacking in experience (many experienced regiments being en route to the Caribbean, or to fight the Americans) -- and that situation almost certainly favored the French, so the final outcome was destined to be a near thing whichever side finally won. As an historian, I find the “Campaign” series to include some of the most useful of the many Osprey titles; the volumes run to twice the length of the earlier series and there’s much more tactical detail, as well as strategic background. In this case, the 19th century was filled with both romantic and realistic artists who took the Napoleonic Wars as their subject, so there are numerous nearly contemporary visions of what happened, and many of them appear in this volume. Moreover, Wootten is careful to distinguish between Romanticism and accuracy in the depictions. In addition, there are a number of the extremely accurate color plates for which Osprey is renowned, depicting uniforms and equipage of British, French, Prussian, and Brunswickian units. In addition to a description of “The Battlefield Today,” a chronology, and a brief but useful bibliography, there’s also a short chapter for gamers.

[John]

As a kid I knew that there was a station named after it and I knew that people who came a cropper were said to have met it. I knew that Wellington and Napoleon had fought at it and that Wellington had won. I knew that the impressively mounted movie about it made a complete hash of conveying the sequence of events. And that was about all I knew about the battle of Waterloo so I turned to this short book to fill in the gaps. It is still the best short account of the battle I've read, and has inspired in me a lifelong fascination both with military history and, specifically, with the events in a field south of Brussels on June 18th, 1815.

[Jur]

Wootten writes for a primary English audience but with more tactfull treatment of the allies than e.g. Haythornthwaite. Book reference list not much improved on Haythornthwaite's from 1974. The Brits are still great, the Dutch-Belgians remain doubtful but William is now just inexperienced and doesn't seem to have so many battallions run down by French cavalry. Wootten also notes that the Dutch held on to Quatre Bras in direct violation of Wellington's orders.

Not the best in the series. Pretty flat and Anglocentric account although at least it gives due credit to Dutch local commanders at Quatre Bras and the Prussians for saving the day.

[Sean Chick]

A great synposis of the campaign and how Napoleon failed in what might have been his worst showing as a general. I suggest it to anyone who wants to know about the battle but not go into the exotic details.