The Battle of Waterloo Experience

by Peter Snow, Dan Snow, National Army Museum

After Napoleon's defeat and exile on Elba in 1814, it looked as if his extraordinary military career had come to an end. But then the Emperor escaped and made a last stand, which climaxed on June 18, 1815, when almost 200,000 Prussian, British, and French soldiers clashed at Waterloo. Published to mark the 200th anniversary, The Battle of Waterloo Experience is a compelling new treatment of the Hundred Days campaign, beautifully illustrated and including reproductions of contemporary letters and documents that graphically portray the background to Napoleon’s final overthrow.

Genres: History

64 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 2015

Reviews

[Paul Groos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine telling of the famous battle and some of the history surrounding it. The authors manage to give a clear, sweeping account of the battle itself, while also telling stories of smaller actions and individual commanders and soldiers, painting a gripping picture of that fateful day. Talking about pictures: the book is lavishly illustrated with paintings and engravings and beautifully published. Within four envelopes are glued between pages in a rather ugly way, containing faithful reproductions of original documents. These are mostly letters from officers or privates, which are illegible due to the old handwriting and the lack of contrast between writing and paper and don’t contribute very much to the overall experience. However some are maps and those are gorgeous. And it was a pleasure to read the Times with Wellington’s Waterloo Dispatch printed, not least because of the classified adds on the front page.
I’ve read the story of this “near run thing” many, many times, visited the battlefield, watched movies and documentaries, but this book was both a nice addition to my limited Waterloo library and a great summary of the battle.

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duminică, 18 iunie 1815, pe un mic câmp de bătălie ascuns între câteva dealuri în apropierea orășelului Waterloo din Belgia, armata Împăratului Napoleon I era înfrântă de armatele aliate - engleze, belgiene, olandeze și prusace.
Realizată de un duo de istorici englezi, tată și fiu, cartea acoperă toate etapele principale ale faimoasei bătălii, cu o scurtă introducere și un epilog succint. Fiind o "carte pentru măsuța de cafea" bineînțeles că va conține numeroase reproduceri ale unor tablouri faimoase care prezintă diverse aspecte ale luptei din englezi și francezi. De asemenea, sunt incluse și numeroase facsimile ale unor documente din acel secol XIX, scrisori, ordine de campanie, pagini de ziare și hărți tactice. Am găsit stilul folosit fiind foarte clar și deloc părtinitor; citatele împrăștiate în textul principal, precum și diversele mini-biografii alcătuind o excelentă introducere a oricărui profan care vrea să afle ce s-a întâmplat la Waterloo, cum îl chema pe Ducele de Wellington și ce culoare avea calul cel alb al lui Napoleon.