Books You May Not Like (Especially if you are French or Prussian or Dutch or Pretty Much Anything But British) -- Waterloo, by Bernard Cromwell.

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you had an English grandfather, a man who had spent the better part of his life pouring over English history in general and the Napoleonic Wars in particular,  and you asked him "Grandad, could you tell us about the battle of Waterloo"?

Well, you needn't wonder any longer.  All you have to do is read Bernard Cromwell's book Waterloo, published in 2014. I came upon it because, with the 200th anniversary of Waterloo coming tomorrow (June 18th), I figured it was high time I read a book about "The Battle".  The Economist said this one was good, so I downloaded it.

The Economist, it should be said, is British.  So are these hard ass bastards:

The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras, Elizabeth Thompson

The Book gets pretty well ripped by some on Amazon because it is "biased" and "repetitive" and "doesn't offer any new knowledge about Wellington or Napoleon".  Those people are entitled to their opinions, and I actually think I agree with them.

But unlike them, I don't give a rip.  I thought this was a great book.

If you've never read much military history before, this book will be great.  A lot of military history can become mired down in units and numbers and blocks moving across the battlefield, which can make it confusing and distant to the uninitiated.  Cromwell tries to avoid doing a lot of that, only referencing unit numbers when necessary, and keeping things at the general level (the corps, the wing).  You'll learn a lot about the battle.

If you have read a lot of military history before, this book will also be great.  Sure, the facts of Waterloo are the facts.  You can read them all on Wikipedia and know how the battle went.  But I thought Cromwell's writing really brought the battle to life.  The book almost read like a novel (which, as Cromwell did write the Sharpe series and a number of other novels, you would kind of expect).  He wraps some things in hyperbole (I think he says, as the Imperial Guard begins their charge, that the entire world was watching) but it actually doesn't sound misplaced.  You get a sense of how desperate the battle was, particularly the defense of Hougamont.  You can get a feel for what it was like to see the Guard's bear skin hats peeking over the ridge as they advance, the drums beating a relentless pas-de-charge.  Few things I have found paint Napoleonic-era combat quite so vividly.

Is it biased?  I'm not so sure.  Cromwell never, ever discounts the Prussian contributions to the battle (Wellington would have been beaten if the Prussians had not arrived or had arrived much later , I think most people would say that with certainty), but I do wish he had spent a few more words on the fighting in Plancenoit which was just as harsh as anywhere else on the field.  If Cromwell is hard on Napoleon and the other French generals for their leadership, and rather in praise of Wellington and his presence on the field, it is because such distinctions are probably deserved and the contrasts were real.  Napoleon led from a distance, watching the battle next to La Belle Alliance.  Wellington left little to chance and road all over the field, exposing himself to the dangers, inspiring order in his men.  I think it may be possible that Cromwell has Wellington in two places at once, but perhaps that is a testament to how much the Duke actually did during the battle.

Best of all?  There are maps!  Every chapter has a map showing the situation that will be covered therein.  They are even easy to see on your Kindle Fire.  A number of military histories I have read recently have eschewed maps for some ungodly reason;  this one has them aplenty and I was ever so glad.

In short, I couldn't be happier.  A great read.  If you hurry, you may be able to read it by the 200th anniversary of the battle's end, about 2000 tomorrow.

Oh crap, wait.....that's 2000 tomorrow Brussels time, which is....2:00 in the afternoon Eastern time.

You better get going.