Contains a history of the state of both the French nation and Napoleon after he went to Elba, and the military history upon his departure from Elba through the end of the Campaign of Waterloo, which afterwards permanently ended Napoleon's reign over France.
#1 Bestseller in the U.K. From the New York Times bestselling author and master of martial fiction comes the definitive, illustrated history of one of the greatest battles ever fought—a riveting nonfiction chronicle published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s last stand. On June 18, 1815 the armies of France, Britain and Prussia descended upon a quiet valley south of Brussels. In the previous three days, the French army had beaten the Prussians at Ligny and fought the British to a standstill at Quatre-Bras. The Allies were in retreat. The little village north of where they turned to fight the French army was called Waterloo. The blood-soaked battle to which it gave its name would become a landmark in European history. In his first work of nonfiction, Bernard Cornwell combines his storytelling skills with a meticulously researched history to give a riveting chronicle of every dramatic moment, from Napoleon’s daring escape from Elba to the smoke and gore of the three battlefields and their aftermath. Through quotes from the letters and diaries of Emperor Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington, and the ordinary officers and soldiers, he brings to life how it actually felt to fight those famous battles—as well as the moments of amazing bravery on both sides that left the actual outcome hanging in the balance until the bitter end. Published to coincide with the battle’s bicentennial in 2015, Waterloo is a tense and gripping story of heroism and tragedy—and of the final battle that determined the fate of nineteenth-century Europe.
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1864 edition. Excerpt: ... the 16th and 17th. The main body of the Prussian army (three corps, together 90,000 men) thus found itself in position between Bry and Tongrines, at ten o'clock on the morning of the 16th. Wellington, who believed Napoleon still at Paris, was not aware of his army's approach, until the news of the passage of the Sambre received at 5 P. M., on the 15th at Brussels, while at a dinner; but the duke had forewarned his troops to hold themselves in readiness for the first signal, and he sent ofiicers in all directions to put them in motion. His left under the Prince of Orange, was in cantonments between Mons and Nivelles, and with its head-quarters at Braine le Comte; his right under General Hill, extended towards Ath. It was then only by a prodigy of activity that this extended line could be concentrated on his left by the evening of the 16th or the morning of the 17th, and it was evident that a connection with the Prussians could be effected by the road from Nivelles to Quatre-Bras. After having dispatched these orders, Wellington repaired to Quatre-Bras, where on the morning of the 16th he found a portion of Perpoucher's Belgian division just from Nivelles, and the brigade of the Prince of Saxe-Weimar. While awaiting the columns from Brussels and Braine, the duke galloped over to Bry, where, about noon, he held an interview with Blucher; finding the Prussian army disposed to give battle, he promised to collect thirty or thirty-five thousand men during the night, to support his right, and with this object returned to QuatreBras, where he arrived after two o'clock. To conquer an enemy that made such wise disposiHons, it would have required the ancient impetuosity of the conqueror of Italy, Ulm, Jena, and Ratisbonne; but bis warmest admirers...
A dual biography of the greatest opposing generals of their age who ultimately became fixated on one another, by a bestselling historian. 'Thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully written and meticulously researched' Observer On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, the Emperor Napoleon declared that the Duke of Wellington was a bad general, the British were bad soldiers and that France could not fail to win an easy victory. Forever afterwards historians have accused him of gross overconfidence, and massively underestimating the calibre of the British commander opposed to him. Andrew Roberts presents an original, highly revisionist view of the relationship between the two greatest captains of their age. Napoleon, who was born in the same year as Wellington - 1769 - fought Wellington by proxy years earlier in the Peninsula War, praising his ruthlessness in private while publicly deriding him as a mere 'sepoy general'. In contrast, Wellington publicly lauded Napoleon, saying that his presence on a battlefield was worth forty thousand men, but privately wrote long memoranda lambasting Napoleon's campaigning techniques. Although Wellington saved Napoleon from execution after Waterloo, Napoleon left money in his will to the man who had tried to assassinate Wellington. Wellington in turn amassed a series of Napoleonic trophies of his great victory, even sleeping with two of the Emperor's mistresses.
It is June 1815 and an Anglo-led Allied army under the Duke of Wellington’s command and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher is set to face Napoleon Boneparte near Waterloo in present-day Belgium. What happens next is well known to any student of history: the two armies of the Seventh Coalition defeated Bonaparte in a battle that resulted in the end of his reign and of the First French Empire. But the outcome could have been very different, as Peter Tsouras demonstrates in this thought-provoking and highly readable alternate history of the fateful battle. By introducing minor – but realistic – adjustments, Tsouras presents a scenario in which the course of the battle runs quite differently, which in turn sets in motion new and unexpected possibilities. Cleverly conceived and expertly executed, this is alternate history at its best.
There have been many books about Waterloo, but never one to rival this in scale or authority. The text, based upon extensive research, describes both the battle and the campaign that preceded it in detail, drawing upon the first-hand accounts of participants on all sides in order to give the reader a vivid feeling for the experiences of those who fought upon this most celebrated of all battlefields. The many full-color maps, all specially commissioned for the book, and the numerous diagrams and photographs, the majority in color, as well as sixteen pages of original paintings, make the book a feast for the eyes and a collector's dream.
"The diverse array of subjects covered include the British campaign in Egypt in 1801; the battle of Maida; Napoleon's decisive victories at Marengo and Austerlitz; the Peninsular War; the Russian Army at war in 1807 and 1812; and the retreat from Moscow. The collection spans the entire career of Dr. Chandler and demonstrates the depth of his research." -- Publisher.