A masterful study of command, control, communications, and even intelligence of all the major combatants during the Waterloo Campaign. Destined to become the gold standard for those studying how armies were controlled and decisions made during the Waterloo Campaign. - Robert Burnham, editor-in-chief, The Napoleon Series
The concluding volume of this prize-winning work provides a fresh description of the climactic battle of Waterloo placed in the context of the whole campaign. It investigates several points of ongoing contention: Bl cher's intentions for the battle, Wellington's choice of site, his reasons for placing substantial forces at Hal, the placement of Napoleon's artillery, who authorised the French cavalry attacks, Grouchy's role on 18 and 19 June, Napoleon's own statements on the Garde's formation in the final attack, and the climactic moment when the Prussians reached Wellington's troops near la Belle Alliance.
Close attention is paid to the negotiations that led to the capitulation of Paris, and subsequent French claims. The allegations of Las Cases and later historians that Napoleon's surrender to Captain Maitland of the Bellerophon amounted to entrapment are also examined. After a survey of the peace settlement of 1815, the book concludes with a masterly chapter reviewing the whole story of the 1815 campaign.
300 colour illustrations
About the Author
John Hussey is a Cambridge graduate who spent 30 years working for BP around the world including the Congo and Nigeria in the 1960s and 1970s. He has been writing articles for journals on British military history for many years and served as a member of the International Historical Committee for the Restoration of the Waterloo Battlefield. He is the author of Malborough: Hero of Belenheim (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004).
Industry Reviews
"A masterful study of command, control, communications, and even intelligence of all the major combatants during the Waterloo Campaign. Destined to become the gold standard for those studying how armies were controlled and decisions made during the Waterloo Campaign."--Robert Burnham, editor-in-chief, The Napoleonic Series "This is an outstanding, scholarly work that unearths many facts about and facets of a subject long considered to have been full explored. No serious student of this battle or, indeed, this epoch, can afford to be without it."--Patrick Mercer "Military History Monthly " "John Hussey's study of the Waterloo campaign with its multiple armies and multiple battles is monumental and magisterial. The final word on Waterloo will never be written but this work is a close run thing."--Dr. John Peaty, FRGS FRHistS "These two volumes represent a comprehensive study of the events of 1815 that surpasses all previous studies of the subject. Future historians will be hard pressed to improve upon such a work! ... Every stage of the story of 1815 is handled in great detail with the author having used many sources, and every chapter presents new information and tells the story of events in such a way that this work is a veritable encyclopaedia of the subject... If your family want to know what you want for Christmas, then make sure these two books are at the top of your wish list."--The Waterloo Journal
