This is not just another book about the Battle of Waterloo: the author, a Senior Lecturer in History and War Studies at York St John University, presents a detailed analysis of the attack of Comte D’Erlon’s I Corps, described as ‘one of the most serious attacks made by the enemy’ in the Duke of Wellington’s Waterloo Dispatch, that has - until now - not had a single book entirely devoted to it, unlike the defence of Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte, or the final attack by the French Imperial Guard. Even Captain William Siborne’s model has been the subject of two books! In Chapter 1, Openings, the author explains that his focus will require analysis of the build-up of the two opposing armies and of their movements in the campaign before the battle, because ‘assessing the formation of the army, the previous service of the troops, and how they were equipped, nourished, and led, is vital to judging the cohesion, character, and confidence of the men who marched into battle.’ This.. Read more
Miniature Wargames

[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars This is a British account of the Battle of Waterloo, I have never really read an in-depth account of the battle so I found this to be interesting. I also found that the French generals would blame each other for the defeat as some would during WWI. Yet the man who should be held accountable is Napoleon, for he would have wanted all of the praise if by some chance they defeated the British. A very good and really good look at the battle and the participants.
NetGalley, Pat Lorelli

[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars Incredibly interesting nonfiction book about battle surgery and medicine. Any history lover will absolutely need this book.
NetGalley, Lynn Beck

I’m a big fan of Andrew Field’s contributions to Napoleonic historiography. I use that latter word quite specifically, because Field very deliberately analyses not just the events related, but how our readings of these events come down to us. I may be be mistaken, but I think I’ve read all of his major Waterloo works? I’ve certainly thoroughly enjoyed them all. Well written and admirably balanced, Field’s books have brought a much broader understanding of events around and including Waterloo to this reader. This latest book takes a systematic look at the contributions of Wellington’s Allied troops. Not Blücher’s Prussians, but the ‘bouillabaisse’ of foreign contingents under his own command: Hanoverians, Brunswickers, Dutch, Belgians and Nassauers. The opening chapter, ‘Military Effectiveness’, sets out what it is Field intends to examine. Having established how one might judge military effectiveness, he then takes each contingent in turn, from the small working.. Read more
Sebastian Palmer

[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars This is exactly the kind of military history that entices me to read military history. Beresford explores an interesting and relatively minor figure of the Napoleonic period, Major General Sir Denis Pack, using a lot of period primary and secondary sources, and gives insight into the broader military history of the era. This book is interesting because Pack fought everywhere - from Ireland to South America to The Peninsula to Waterloo - won decorations and acclaim, but was a junior general. So the reader gets to see the scope of war at a more tactical level. I thought Beresford has a clean and easily comprehensible style, writes frankly about gaps in the historical record, and grabs the reader and holds him-or-her throughout. Well done.
NetGalley, Evan Ladouceur