
” Fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, by some 220, 000 men over rain-sodden ground in what is now Belgium, the Battle of Waterloo brought an end to twenty-three years of almost continual war between revolutionary & later imperial France & her enemies. A decisive defeat for Napoleon & a hard-won victory for the Allied armies of the Duke of Wellington & the Prussians led by the stalwart Blucher, it brought about the French emperor`s final exile to St Helena & cleared the way for Britain to become the dominant world power. A former soldier, Gordon Corrigan is the author of an acclaimed military biography of Wellington & has walked the battlefields of the Napoleonic era many times. He is perfectly placed to offer a robust, clear & gripping account of the campaign that surveys the wider military scene before moving on to the actions at Quatre Bras & Ligny & then the final, set-piece confrontation at Waterloo itself. He is also well qualified to explore, often in fascinating detail, the relative strengths & frailties of the very different armies involved
- French, British, Dutch, Prussian & German
- of their various arms
- infantry, artillery & cavalry
- & of their men, officers &, above all, their commanders. Wellington remarked that Waterloo was `a damned nice thing`, `nice` meaning uncertain or finely balanced. He was right. For his part, Napoleon reckoned `the English are bad troops & this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast`. He was wrong, & this splendid book proves just how wrong.”