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Gordon Corrigan is a member of the British Commission for Military History and a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. He is the author of A Great and Glorious Adventure and The Second World War. Gordon lives in England.
Waterloo: Wellington, Napoleon, and the Battle that Saved Europe
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ISBN-13:
9781605987262
- Publisher: Pegasus Books
- Publication date: 12/08/2014
- Sold by: Barnes & Noble
- Format: eBook
- Pages: 368
- File size: 6 MB
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In time for the bicentennial in 2015, a veteran historian brings the campaign and battle, its armies and their commanders, to fresh and vivid life in his brilliant new military history of one of the key battles in world history.
Wellington remarked that Waterloo was “a damned nice thing,” meaning uncertain or finely balanced. He was right. For his part, Napoleon reckoned “the English are bad troops and this affair is nothing more that eating breakfast.” He was wrong—and this gripping and dramatic narrative history shows just how wrong.Fought on Sunday, June 18th, 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 imperial France and her enemies. A decisive defeat for Napoleon and a hard-won victory for the Allied armies of the Duke of Wellington and the Prussians, led by the stalwart Marshal Blucher, it brought about the French emperor’s final exile to St. Helena and cleared the way for Britain to become the dominant military power in the world.
The Napoleonic Wars are a source of endless fascination and this authoritative volume provides a wide and colorful window into this all-important climatic battle.
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Library Journal
11/15/2014Napoleon Bonaparte is an infamous figure in history, whose legendary actions while running the French empire will continue to be studied for a long time to come. And yet, however fabulous Napoleon was, his downfall was even more dramatic. Independent scholar and former British soldier Corrigan (member, British Commission for Military History; Wellington) explores Napoleon's infamous loss at the Battle of Waterloo. The author describes the lives of both protagonists of the war, Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington, as well as their officers and soldiers. He points out early on that the fight was unusual because most of the participants were literate and kept memoirs; therefore, he is able to paint a much more accurate picture of the battle. It is intriguing to see how Wellington and Napoleon, the same age and practically in the same profession, used similar experiences to get to very different places. VERDICT Those interested in military history, particularly that of England or France, will love the detail in this volume. Corrigan keeps things exciting by blending his own brand of wit with historical fact.—Rebecca Kluberdanz, GB65 Lib., New York
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2014-10-05Two centuries have not diminished the avalanche of books on this subject, but even history buffs familiar with the two generals and their epic 1815 encounter will not regret choosing this one.Exhausted after 20 years of war, France did not mourn Napoleon's exile to Elba in 1814. When he returned, nine months later, the restored Bourbon monarchy had exhausted its goodwill, and he had little trouble resuming office. Veteran military historian Corrigan (A Great and Glorious Adventure: A History of the Hundred Years War and the Birth of Renaissance England, 2014, etc.) suggests that he should have waited a few more years to return. Immense Allied forces that had defeated him were still in place, with their leaders conveniently conferring in Vienna. Outnumbered, Napoleon knew that his only chance was to defeat each army separately, so he raced toward Belgium and the Duke of Wellington's Anglo-Dutch forces. The Prussian army was nearby; Austrian and Russian armies were elsewhere. Corrigan delivers a gripping, nuts-and-bolts account of a clash whose first step does not occur until nearly 150 pages in. Until then, readers will encounter equally gripping biographies of three generals (Blucher, the Prussian commander, gets deserved equal billing) and a nation-by-nation review of early-19th-century European military recruitment, weapons, training, tactics and leadership. Corrigan dismisses the History Channel view of Waterloo as a stunning British victory against great odds. In reality, "it was an allied victory against odds that weren't all that bad." British forces were a minority in Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army, which was smaller than the Prussian army that came to its aid. It was not won through tactical ingenuity but the "perceived British virtue of sticking it out until help arrived." A superb addition to an overstuffed genre.