Waterloo

by CLAYTON TIM

The bloodbath at Waterloo ended a war that had engulfed the world for over twenty years. It also finished the career of the charismatic Napoleon Bonaparte. It ensured the final liberation of Germany and the restoration of the old European monarchies, and it represented one of very few defeats for the glorious French army, most of whose soldiers remained devoted to their Emperor until the very end.

Extraordinary though it may seem, much about the Battle of Waterloo has remained uncertain, with many major features of the campaign hotly debated. Most histories have depended heavily on the evidence of British officers that were gathered about twenty years after the battle. But the recent publication of an abundance of fresh first-hand accounts from soldiers of all the participating armies has illuminated important episodes and enabled radical reappraisal of the course of the campaign. What emerges is a darker, muddier story, no longer biased by notions of regimental honour, but a tapestry of irony, accident, courage, horror and human frailty.

An epic page turner, rich in dramatic human detail and grounded in first-class scholarly research, Waterloo is the real inside story of the greatest land battle in British history, the defining showdown of the age of muskets, bayonets, cavalry and cannon.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, Military Fiction, Politics, War

704 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2014

Reviews

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Damn Close Run Thing

It all began on 15/06/1815 in a barnyard in Brussels. The Duchess of Richmond hosted a ball, attended by officers of the allied forces and members of high society. However, it was heavily men as not many women were in the combat zone around that time. Many of the military men, including the Duke of Wellington who was present were dressed for the ball, wearing their silk stockings and slippers, when their escape was interrupted by distant cannon. Napoleon and French had crossed the frontier earlier than expected. Then began their quick departure, some not having enough time to change, to fight the battles of Quatre Bra and Ligny before the final act occurred on 18/06/1815 on a stretch of farmland from Brussels along the Charleroi Road; the village to the north was called Waterloo.

For me Waterloo: Four Days that Changed Europe’s Destiny is an absolute and complete account on the battle. I would say you should start here first and if you were to only read one book on the subject, I would make this it. Tim Clayton has really got it right here, I was not as keen on his book on Trafalgar, but Waterloo is definitely first class. He approaches the battle from all perspectives, the British, Prussians and the French. Previous biographies of the battle have tended to skirt over the latter two. Furthermore he has taken a modern approach, by telling the story not only from the Generals at the top with over all strategy in mind, but also through to the tactical leaders in the middle who had to get it done, right down to those in the thick of it, the common soldier. This has worked so well for many great writers of the First and Second World Wars, that it is great to see this attention to detail and skill used in the Napoleonic Wars too.

The book is divided into three parts, the first being a general history of the Napoleonic Wars up until June 1815 and then beginning with the Hundred Days (there are so many of these in history, but this took it first!), where Napoleon escaped from Elba and one of the most amazing stories in history began. I love the French reaction as the newspapers slowly change as he manages to advance north through the country gain more and more followers. He goes from the ‘Corsican Ogre’, to ‘the Emperor Returns’ the further he gets. King Louis XVIII sends Marshal Michel Ney to stop him, Ney famously declaring he would bring back his old friend in an ‘iron cage’, however Ney himself ended up joining Napoleon! This act of treachery ultimately ended in Ney’s execution later that year. Clayton also discusses the state of the key counties involved and their respective armies and military capabilities. After all this is a military history. A significant factor was that Wellington’s army was not the professional one he had developed during the Peninsular War, but was a new and lower quality group of men. His real army was off getting torn apart in the Battle for New Orleans.

Part two is the opening skirmishes and the battles of Quatre Bra and Ligny. Quatre Bra checked the French, whilst Ligny scattered the Prussians, but crucially they retreated north along the lines of Wellington’s army and not back to the east where they had come from, away from Waterloo. It was here that Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy, Marquis de Grouchy (unusual as an overstayer of the Ancien Regime) followed the Prussians in order to destroy them, so drawing crucial for too long units from the main battle. Smaller encounters are also covered, usually not mentioned in other books I had red on the subject. This book is truly painstakingly put together.

Part three is the main event. That famous day on 18/06/1815. The soldiers burning and stealing all they could from the various farmsteads to keep warm and fed. They slept on the grass, where it rained overnight and so woke up soaking wet, but ready to do their duty. The whole battle from her on in is covered, from the late opening of the French Grand Battery, as the ground was wet, so the canon could not be brought up earlier. For Wellington this was significant as his plan was to stall the French as long as possible until the arrival of Gebhard von Blücher, Prince von Wahlstatt and his ‘Prussian children’. We learn that Napoleon became obsessed with taking La Hay Sainte, the small farmstead in the middle of the battle, where he threw soldier after soldier at it. The other defended farm of Hougoumont is also described where the French breached and famously the redcoats inside managed to shut the gates slaughtering all of the French that had beached the position except for a drummer boy who was spared. Clayton talks about the charge of the Scots Greys, the famous unseen ridge and its questionable significance, the counter attack by the Polish Lancers. The charge of the French Heavy Cavalry, the Cuirassiers and the commitment of the Imperial Guard, something Napoleon had not done before. Finally Prussian black is spotted to east and the French are routed. With that 20 years of war came to an end. Clayton does a great job with all of this by keeping the reader from loosing track or getting confused, by naming and splitting the chapters with each key event. I for one, struggle sometimes to imagine a battle from a book, so this is extremely helpful.

Waterloo: Four Days that Changed Europe’s Destiny is truly excellent and I highly recommend it. Clayton writes very well and I can still remember so many passages and anecdotes from the book, writing this review. Clayton does assume some basic knowledge of the period and the Napoleonic Wars in general, but I don’t mind this as I suggest it is not hard to get up to speed. Furthermore, the extra detail or background knowledge would for me take the shine away from this great book. I am longing for the same to be done now with Austerlitz, Leipzig or Borodino.

[E. G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

List of Maps
Prologue: This Short Campaign of 'Hours'

--Waterloo: Four Days that Changed Europe's Destiny

Acknowledgements
Notes
Bibliography
Index

[John Tarttelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just finished Tim Clayton's book which I much enjoyed. His narrative is fast paced and fair to all sides. In fact, he shows just how little Wellington deserves sole praise and the massive accolades given to him over the years by British writers for 'his' victory. Clayton says there were 26,000 English in Wellington's army and 30,000 Germans. And 45,000 Prussians fought at the battle. It was a battle 'the Germans won'. Basically, Wellington and the Allies hung on by the skin of their teeth and the smoke and confusion of battle was such that Wellington really did not know what was happening a lot of the time, especially on his weak left wing where he hoped and expected the Prussians to arrive. The losses that the British Army suffered at Quatre Bras meant that he did not really have much option but to hold on as best he could. He deserves credit for the foresight in having chosen the field at Mont St. Jean to fight a defensive battle and for his fortitude on the day - although the quote that he was in such despair before the Prussians attacked in force that he had tears in his eyes was interesting.
The Prussians were beaten at Ligny - 65,000 French against 80,000 Prussians! Had D'Erlon's 20,000 men fought at either Quatre Bras or Ligny there would have been no Waterloo. And had Blucher, unhorsed and feared lost on June 16th, not had such an inveterate hatred of Napoleon and the French, Gneisenau would had led the Prussian army away from the British not towards them after Ligny. When the Prussians began arriving in force on the afternoon of June 18th Lobau's men and others who were preparing to attack the weakened Allied left and centre, were diverted and the day was 'saved' hours before the battle actually ended.
Clayton pays due attention to the terrible weather - what he does not know was that the eruption of Tambora in April 1815 was very likely the reason for the very unusual weather that summer. It also led to the year 'without a summer' in 1816 when the weather was so atrocious that Mary Shelley, Byron et al were stuck indoors and decided to tell each other ghost stories - Frankenstein was the result.
I was pleased to see that Clayton absolves Napoleon of the accusation that he lied to his own men when the Prussians attacked, saying it was Grouchy. Napoleon, he states, wanted and needed the 'new arrivals' to be Grouchy so much that he was only too pleased to latch onto his own hope. The author quotes several pro-Napoleonic British soldiers and surgeons etc, who say that the Bourbon restoration was hated by the French people and that Louis XVIII was only restored by British bayonets. However, Clayton also says: "Most Frenchmen were heartily sick of Bonaparte after Waterloo," mentioning a cartoon printed in August 1815 as proof - a cartoon published to please the Bourbons obviously. I think it safe to say that most Frenchmen and women preferred Napoleon to old Bungy!
He mentions too, that the treaty of capitulation negotiated by Davout after Waterloo was ignored by the Bourbons who instituted The White Terror - and that Wellington lamely said that the treaty: "was not binding on the new royalist government." In fact, Lord Liverpool insisted that the French persecute former Bonapartists and many were murdered without trial.
Above all, this book shows how sheer luck can have such an important affect on the affairs of men. Waterloo was not the great British 'victory' acclaimed over the years. So weak and decimated were the British and the Allies at the end of the battle that only the Prussians could pursue the retreating French. Clayton even infers that Wellington lost more men than Napoleon on the battlefield on June 18th.
Napoleon never wanted to fight this campaign and having marched to Paris earlier that year without a shot being fired, and enthusiastically welcomed back by most Frenchmen, he should have been allowed to govern France accordingly. But the privileged European aristocratic elites who were still terrified by the Revolution were never going to allow that. And as an ironic footnote - at the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, when ordinary people were attacked by the militia for merely discussing how their own country should be governed, a Waterloo veteran was killed by his own British cavalry. They can't blame Napoleon for that...
Well deserving of four stars.

[R.M.F. Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won this in a Goodreads' giveaway


"A man does not have himself killed for a half-pence a day or for a petty distinction. You must speak to the soul in order to electrify him."

Like Julius Caesar before him, Napoleon had the knack of exerting men forward for a great cause. Nowhere is this more evident in the Waterloo campaign, the last throw of the dice from a fading maverick, his best years behind him, his enemies stronger than ever, barring the road to destiny. And still they flocked to him, willing to risk all under Napoleon, rather than fade away into obscurity under an ageing and despised Bourbon king.

And yet, Waterloo was a damn close run thing. But how close? And who was doing the running?

The historiography of Waterloo has long been hijacked by the British. The popular view that Wellington's forces held out through Hell and high water, with the Prussians making a fashionably late entrance,with a marginal effect on the overall result, has long endured.

As always, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Clayton gives a fresh perspective, one that brings into the light the full sacrifice of the Prussians at Ligny, their masterful retreat, their ability to regroup and converge on Waterloo, and to an extent, rehabilitates the Prince of Orange, and the Dutch and Belgian troops under his command that have been much maligned over the years.

Occasionally, the book threatens to collapse under a weight of troop movements, obscure commanders, and a barrage of shifting events, making it difficult for even a committed enthusiast like myself to follow the narrative strand.

But Waterloo was a damn near run thing, and Clayton's book is all the better for it, as it highlights how close the result hung in the balance.

[Chris Steeden · Rating 3 out of 5]

'...greatest victory in British history' declared the poet laureate Robert Southey. As Tim Clayton, the author of this incredibly detailed book, goes on to explain it really was a joint operation between the British, German, Dutch, Belgians and finally the Prussians. After the battle Wellington said 'It was the most desperate business I was ever in. I never took so much trouble about any Battle, and never was so near being beat. Our loss is immense particularly in that best of all instruments British Infantry. I never saw the Infantry behave so well.'

From 1803 Napoleon had been at war with Britain. In 1804 he crowned himself Emperor of France and in 1805 the King of Italy. By 1807 he ruled most of continental Europe. In 1814 the allies invaded France and he abdicated and the French monarchy re-installed.

The exiled Napoleon leaves Elba on 26-FEB-1815 for France with a 1000 strong army that got bigger as he marched through France to Paris. By 09-MAR-1815 it was 12000 strong and he got to Paris on 20-MAR-1815. He was about to start his conquering again.

04-APR-1815 the 46 year old Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, arrived in Brussels. Napoleon needed to be stopped and the allies amassed nearly 220,000 men and 500 guns which was far more than Napoleon could deploy against them.

This book details from 15-JUN-1815 when the French attack the Prussian outposts. The Prussians led by the 72 year old Prince Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher and August von Gneisenau (had rebuilt the Prussian army). There is also Hans von Ziethen and Friedrich von Bulow (60 year old Prussian hero).

The French are planning to seize the river crossings at Charleroi. Then on the 16th the French pounded the Dutch at Quatre Bras and attacking the Prussians at Brye. The fighting continues until the great battle at Waterloo on the 18th. The fighting was brutal and some of the descriptions on the dead and dying are hard to read but certainly shows the carnage that was being dealt from all sides.

After Waterloo, Wellington went back into politics with the Tories. he was Prime Minister for a shot time between 1828-1830 and then even shorter in 1834.

Napoleon was on his way to America before being intercepted by the British who sent him off to St Helena where he spent five-and-a-half years before dying of stomach cancer on 05-MAY-1821.

As stated this book is so detailed that, for me, it was all a bit much to get my head around. Names, places, troop movements. I just found it a little difficult to keep up. It's almost like I needed far bigger maps than what were already in the book but still it is an amazing feat of research from the author and for that we should be thankful.

[Pyramidhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The best book on the battle", is printed on the cover. I am a conflict archaeologist/historian and from my home it is an hour and a half drive to Waterloo, the famous place where Bonaparte was defeated and where European history was changed forever. I had never visited the battlefield before, nor did I properly study it, so just after its 200 year anniversary I decided to visit this 'hyped' battlefield and its museums. It left a deep impact on me.

After spending a day retracing the steps of the men who fought, bled and died that day in similar weather conditions, I decided it was time to read more about the battle. I didn't want to read a scientific book full of analysis and speculation, so instead I set out to find a book that tells the story of the soldiers in the field, much like John Prebble's 'Culloden', one of my favourite books.

This specific book by Tim Clayton is that book. It provides tge reader with a good introduction to the events leading up to the battle before dealing with the skirmishedls and battles at Quatre Bras and Mont Saint-Jean. The book perfectly illustrates the main movements of the field of battle before going into detail about specific unit manoeuvres and into the individual experiences of specific soldiers, surgeons, officers and civilian bystanders, as if they are directly telling their story to the reader.

The level of detail is impressive. The hopeless atmosphere of the battle, the smoke of the guns, the air buzzing with balls and canon-shots, the pillaging of the fallen, the bravery and gallows humour of the men at arms, it is all vividly described, placing the reader itself into the thick of the battle.

The enormous massacre and loss of life are described into gory detail. Just like at the Waterloo panorama at the battlefield, you can almost hear the horses scream and see the poor mutilated limp about on three legs among the piles and heaps of brave fallen men that fell on that faithful, hot and humid day some two hundred years ago. In my opinion, this truly is the best book on the battle(s) of Waterloo. Quelle affaire...

[Alistaire King · Rating 5 out of 5]

The normal Anglo centric approach that I've been brought up with is that an army of plucky Englishmen beat the might of Napoleon with a little help from the Prussians at the very end. This book, thankfully, debunks this national myth. This victory was won by British, Irish, Belgians,Dutch and Germans. Wellington has won the plaudits for his generalship but what this book makes clear is that poor French communications and leadership were as much, if not more, responsible for the French defeat. The book also makes clear how murderous this battle was. The losses were appalling.
We move from Napoleons return to final defeat. The overlooked battles at Quatre-Bas and Ligny. The contribution of the Prussians and their importance in Wellingtons plan for the battle are given their proper place in the story. At the end we can only agree with Wellingtons assessment that this was a fine run thing in that right to the end the battle looked to be going the way of Napoleon.

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers Napoleon's return from Elba until his surrender and exile on St Helena. The main focus is the battle known as Waterloo and those prior at Quatre Bras and Lisigny and encompassing the fighting at Wavre that held part of the french army in the West and allowed Blucher and his Prussians to appear on Wellington's left flank and force the day. The troop dispositions and the differing regiments are at times difficult to follow and larger maps would have assisted. Much can be found on the internet and the acknowledgements and bibliography are able to lead in this direction. The book does try to convey the horror and suffering in this type of warfare, it also highlights the serf-like conditions of the ordinary soldier and the appalling lack of medical facilities. The book is well worth reading for any that have an interest for the subject.

[Karl Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good although did not convey some of the urgency of battle. Stumbled through Quatre Bras, although It did inform on areas that I didn't know about, unearthed a few new fascinating facts. Failed dismally on the charge of the Scots Greys.. Mixed bag, but worth the read and is probably one of the better books available for the movement of the Prussians on the day.

[Koit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waterloo was a defining point of the 19th century. By 1815, the United Kingdom — and the Royal Army and Navy — had been at war for near-enough twenty continuous years. For the people who came from India and the EIC Army, this period would have been even longer. Yet, Napoleon’s return and subsequent defeat finished all that. Mr Clayton took it upon himself to reflect on the battle which truly stopped large-scale campaigning in Europe until the revolutions of 1848. I would say that, on the whole, he succeeded.

After this praiseful opening, I would start by saying that though I really enjoyed the book, Mr Clayton was not as skilled in highlighting what combat meant as the author of another battle history I recently read: Peter Englund and his ‘Poltava’. I think that to a degree this comes from the author’s reluctance to let go of his historian’s chronological view: we get a very long epilogue where dozens of people are mentioned even when they might have last featured tens of chapters ago. Also, the introduction into what war meant in Wellington’s day is relatively poor and perhaps not consistent enough to create a vivid enough image for the reader.

I appreciated the additional emphasis on the Prussians — in my experience, Waterloo is often covered as Wellington’s victory. Yet, this did not seem to build on as much fact as it could have. In many a case when the author introduced a German regiment (say the King’s German Legion and its parts), it offered up intriguing hints as to the formation doing a lot better than expected by Wellington. These intriguing hints were rarely improved upon!

Yet, the book had sufficient detail as well as commentary from the participants to keep it interesting and relevant throughout. I would have wanted more but the book was by no means a slouch. Mr Clayton’s prose does not make heroes out of the Old Guard though he does his best to reflect their suffering.

Overall, I still think the author’s prose suffered through a lack of imagination though it still provides a good account of the struggle of the Allied army.

This review was originally posted on my blog.

[Christopher Dove · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It is thoroughly and meticulously researched and is full of fascinating detail about the battle and the days leading up to it. Like the best military history it skillfully interweaves the experiences and memories of individual combatants into the bigger strategic picture. What differentiates this from most books about the Waterloo campaign are two things in particular. Firstly it describes in great deal the battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras that took place two days before Waterloo. It gives these conflicts the space and attention they deserve and show how the results and aftermath of each of these battles contributed to the strategy and tactics used at Waterloo. Secondly it makes clear like no other book just how desperate the situation of the British and Allied forces were towards the end of the day. The Allied front really was on the point of total collapse and it was only the arrival of the Prussians on the battlefield in the nick of time that ensured Napoleon's defeat.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Napoleonic warfare. It is one of the best books I have read on the battle of Waterloo

[andy noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly detailed account of both the 100 day campaign that ended with the battle of Waterloo. The book not only highlights how close Wellington came to losing, but also rightly focus on the often ignored Dutch, German troops who fought in the Allied army. The book is well written and views the battle from all perspectives especially the Prussians, whose contribution guaranteed an Allied victory. Unlike previous books on the topic which tend to play this as British victory, the author shatters that myth and restores the role of all the allies in successfully defeating Napoleon

[Jim Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have visited the battlefield at Waterloo on several occasions and read many books on the subject. This, for me, is right up there with the best. Most important in understanding the campaign is the inclusion of the battle at Ligny and Quatre Bras.

The book is very readable and has many quotes from letters and diaries from the time. Being so far back in history (now), it is often hard to get into the human side and cost of the battle, which is a little more accessible from books of WW1, WW2 and more recent conflicts. However Tim Clayton does manage to address this.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 2014, 'Waterloo' gives a detailed account of the events leading up and during this decisive battle in 1815. Some attempt is made to dispel the many myths that have arisen concerning the events, as well as shedding some light on why these myths arose in the first place. Above all, a brilliant read - and it needs to be since it is very long.

[Phil LeDuc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly the most detailed book on the battle that I've read. Anglo/Allied-centric, as most accounts are. (Hence I'm looking forward to reading Andrew Field's four books on the Waterloo campaign.) Major weakness is not nearly enough maps - a too-common fault with many campaign/battle histories.

[Peter Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book about such an important battle.It explains the leaders,the soldiers,military tactics,weapons,the course over 4 days,the results and why Napoleon lost - in fact everything.Be warned though for it is exhaustively detailed,necessary of course but perhaps too much for many readers.

[Gus I · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly written and easy to read. It gives more or less an hour by hour account of the campaign. With 3 armies operating in separate locations that makes a lot of sense and you get a good sense of the campaign.

[pierre bovington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best account of the battle I have seen published. Tim Clayton puts you in the book, I was really impressed by the soldiers point of view as well as the Commanders. Few history books deal with this issue.
Brilliant work, next month, I will read the battle part again.

[Jeff Moffatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

VERY in-depth overview. Perhaps too tactical for someone wanting a mere overview of the battle. Would have enjoyed more political context, and less in-the-weeds movements of individual units.

[Ananannana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended for military history enthusiasts; it's a thoroughly enjoyable and comprehensive read. While the writing style could be a bit more engaging (I'd say Bernard Cornwell reigns supreme in that aspect), and the book could've been shortened without sacrificing context or the significance of events, it's a compelling and well-researched account. Clayton's narrative style is also impartial, focusing on the perspectives of all sides involved in the battle; I praise the attention to the contributions/role of the Prussian forces, which I find is often overlooked in accounts of Waterloo. The book also give an extensive overview of the events leading up to the battle, such as battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras, which is really helpful to understand the strategic context.

[Dane Sørensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems like every book, blog and article out there, upon reaching the subject of Waterloo, dodges it with a line like, "The battle has, of course, been much-discussed elsewhere..." and then moves on. The problem is that when everybody does it, the battle never seems to get discussed at all. It's hidden behind a firewall of someone-else-has-covered-it that obscures it completely.

It's for this reason I dropped thirty-five of my dollars on this book, aiming to get the knowledge everyone assumed I already had once and for all. I therefore came into the subject a complete ignoramus, and that really isn't the best way to dive into this book. For all its billing as a page-turner, it's hardcore on detail - Tim spends an inordinate amount of time numbering regiments, battalions and cavalry squadrons, for example (I still have no idea why they're called the Life Guards, but I'm intrigued, especially when apparently James Blunt was a more recent recruit).

The book does what it promises, delivering the story in a way that puts you on the ground among the smoke and chaos and screaming, and that's great - if you're already familiar with what happened. If you're trying to learn what happened, that's not so great. You need a more broad-strokes version of the story before you can zoom in this hard. I eventually had to find a rundown on YouTube to get a framework on which to glue Tim Clayton's landslide of detail - after which, admittedly, it got much better.

I did learn a lot from the book about how armies worked back then (skirmishers and command-&-control especially), and as unpleasant as it was to read, the unsparing, blood-drenched way he outlined injuries helped shoot down the idea that this was a period of "gentlemanly" warfare - even before Sherman was born, war was cruelty and you couldn't refine it.

So overall, a great ground-level, trees-adding-up-to-a-forest retelling of an important battle and the campaign surrounding it, but one that's definitely oriented toward those who are already familiar with the subject. If you're looking to discover it for the first time, like I was, you're better off with another book. Or YouTube.

[Jonathan]

I found the build-up to the battle very interesting but as I have little interest in military details I ended up skipping most of the book only to rejoin it in the aftermath. The scenes after the battle were horrific; both sides were unprepared for the scale of casualties.

If you want a single volume covering the details of the Battle of Waterloo then you can't go far wrong with this book. The author has attempted to be fair to all sides and not just take an Anglo-centric view. This book has, however, reminded me to avoid these military histories and to stick to political & social histories. With wars I'm usually content to just have a summary.

[Maurits van Rees · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overview of the stream of events when Napoleon came back, quickly gaining the support of ever more soldiers who were sent to capture him.

And then on to a detailed account from all sides of the brief four day campaign, with errors and miscommunication on all sides. Napoleon first beat the Prussians, but they escaped destruction and were back to assist the Dutch and British in their final hour of need, causing the French to flee in the face of their finally united enemies.

Clear and interesting account of a gruesome fight.

[E Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent history of one of the most important military campaigns in history. Over four days, the entire fate of the world for the next 50 (or more) years hung in the balance. The narrative is engaging and fast paced and extremely well researched. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys military history. You won't put it down.

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent account that does much to bring together the vast array of knowledge that is emerging about this epic struggle. Giving credit to the many nations involved in the battle around Mont-St-Jean, Clayton's narrative provides fresh information for any Waterloo historian.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

an impartail veiew of a war that moved so fast its hard to follow with little or no record of events. the end result reminds me of The Falkland. I conclude the war Should be known as WW1 as the germans fought against the allied forces therefore may of led to the Kaziers revenge.

[Steve Switzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book about the entire campaign
quatre bras ligny waterloo and wavre
The best account I have ever read of how these things fit together
Up there with 'the battle '

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right up there with the best I have read on the subject so well written and brings the whole four days to life in astounding detail