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Napoleonic Wars


willoyd

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We are approaching the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, the climax of this period of history, with a whole host of books appearing on the subject. So here's a new thread for what is one of my favourite periods of history!

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The Longest Afternoon by Brendan Simms ****
The forthcoming year sees the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, and the publishers are already hard at work, with several new books on the market this autumn. The battle has long since been an interest, as has the Duke himself and the Wars, including a number of visits to the battlefield itself (largely reasonably well preserved other than the changes to the central landscape created by the monument to William of Orange - why on earth it was allowed even then is beyond me!). This volume is likely to be one of the slimmest and also one of the most tightly focused, concentrating on the forward defence of the Allies' centre at La Haye Sainte by the King's German Legion: 400 men who were reduced to barely one-tenth of that by the end of the battle.

Most of the histories I've read have been much more wideranging, and it was therefore a real change to read a book with such a slant. The author was also able to take advantage of previously largely unused archives in Germany, including several personal accounts. Waterloo has been particularly subject to a number of 'personal', or maybe that should be 'political' interpretations (not least by Wellington himself), so getting to the 'truth' (whatever that may be in the confusion of battle) is particularly difficult, but Professor Simms pieces together a very coherent account, which has a realistic ring to it. In doing so, he brings this part of the battle very much alive.

The subtitle of the book (The 400 Men Who Decided the Battle of Waterloo) is probably somewhat overegging the role of the KGL, but there is no doubt that their defence was a vital contribution, giving Blucher's Prussians time to come to Wellington's aid, and the battle was never going to be won without them. It has certainly rarely been given sufficient credit, and for that, the new research, and the vivid description and portrayal of characters, this book made a thoroughly worthwhile and involving read. It almost certainly won't be my last Waterloo read over the next few months, but it's likely to be one of the stronger ones.

(Copied to my book blog thread)

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Waterloo by Tim Clayton ******

I've long held a fascination with this subject, ever since reading the first volume of Elizabeth Longford's biography of the Duke of Wellington (The Years of the Sword) as a teenager, so this year's 200th anniversary promises to be a bit of a boon year with new books and material being published in recognition. Inevitably, some of it will be, or even has already been, published simply to ride on the back of the event, the most glaring being the battle account written by Bernard Cornwell, who, on that evidence, really needs to stick to writing fiction (but then he did!), whilst others will go beyond that. One example of the latter I've already come across is Brendan Simms's highly readable slim volume The Longest Afternoon, which focuses on one small part of the battle, the defence of La Haie Sainte. Tim Clayton goes to the opposite extreme, and broadens his perspective out to take in the four days of fighting that culminated in the carnage of Waterloo itself. It is, like Simms, very much an example of a book that adds to, rather than merely supplements, the literature.

Having previously read the author's books Tars and Trafalgar (the latter co-authored by Phil Craig), I was already confident that Waterloo would be a cut above the average. That confidence was not misplaced. Book-ended by chapters that place the four days of the invasion of Belgium by Napoleon in context, Clayton focuses on that short period, encompassing the four battles of Ligny, Quatre-Bras, Wavre, and, of course, Waterloo (although Wavre is somewhat skimmed over, as Clayton himself explains). It was a confusing period, involving three armies (one of which split into two), multiple nationalities, horrible weather and conditions, a campaign spread over an extensive area and yet some of the most intense fighting of the Napoleonic Wars, rivalling anything before or since.

The confusion didn't stop with the fighting. Given the political importance of the battle, and the variety of people involved, variations in reporting and interpretation have abounded, and historians, even those without a particular axe to grind, have found it a real challenge to find a way through the subsequent obscurity, and lead their readers with any sense of confidence in their accuracy.

Tim Clayton's book seems to achieve all this, stepping carefully but precisely through the complex sequence of events. He writes fluidly and with beautiful clarity, handling the mass of individual threads, each in themselves highly tangled, with superb aplomb, whilst sustaining a gripping narrative. It's a masterpiece of writing, one that is solidly founded on research that brings a wide variety of sources, some apparently contradictory, together in a way that enables the reader to move smoothly between the overview of generals and the personal accounts of individuals.

It's also a highly balanced account. So many see the battle from a particular viewpoint, beating a particular drum, in particular the Napoleonic accounts that deem Napoleon was unlucky/betrayed, or those that claim it was the British who beat the French. Clayton clearly demonstrates that there was far, far more to the campaign. In particular, the role of the other nationalities on the Allied side is clearly shown to be massively more important than all too often given credit. Indeed, it was the commitment of the Prussians under Blucher and Gneisenau to support the rest of the Allies, and the actions that surrounded that commitment on all sides that seems to have been the linchpin of the Allied success: Wellington wouldn't have made his stand where and when he did without it, Napoleon wouldn't have planned the way he did if he had recognised the possibility of that commitment, the battle wouldn't have turned out the way it did with its dramatic last minute denouement, without it. Equally, without the commitment of a veritable cocktail of northern European nationalities, Wellington's defence of the Mont St Jean ridge (brilliantly generalled) simply couldn't have happened.

My only source of (relatively minor) complaint is the maps. They are, in fact, better than most books, and it almost seems churlish to comment, but for me, somebody who has grown up with maps (and worked professionally with them), there is barely a history book (especially a military history book) that is sufficiently well mapped, and this is no exception. In particular, it would have benefited from more that showed the layouts of the various battles at different stages and included more names that tied in with the text, and more maps that illustrated specific areas, e.g. the Hougomont Estate, La Haie Sainte, the battle for Plancenoit. All had detailed verbal descriptions, which would have massively benefited from maps that tied in with them. Fortunately, I have a copy of Mark Adkins's amazing book (a book of reference rather than reading!), which sat alongside me whilst I read this, and made a profound difference.

However, that point aside, this is simply an outstanding book, one that I was loath to put down. Completely absorbing, it was by turns illuminating, absorbing and exciting (and sometimes all three at the same time!): the account of the final throws of the dice by Napoleon is amongst the best historical writing I've read - even knowing the outcome, I was on the edge of my seat! Yet, above all, it was the understanding it engendered - how and why it all happened - that I will mainly take away, and that, after all, has to be one of the primary aims of any history book. Nothing less than a full six stars

(Copied from my book blog)

Edited by willoyd
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