Overview

From the New York Times bestselling author comes the definitive, illustrated history of one of the greatest battles ever fought--a riveting nonfiction chronicle published to commemorate the two-hundreth anniversary of Napoleon's last stand. On June 18, 1815, the armies of France, Britain, and Prussia descended upon a quiet valley south of Brussels. In the previous three days, the French army had beaten the Prussians at Ligny and fought the British to a standstill at Quatre-Bras. The Allies were in retreat. The little village north of where they turned to fight the French army was called Waterloo. The blood-soaked battle to which the town gave its name would become a landmark in European history. In his first work of nonfiction, Bernard Cornwell combines his storytelling skills with a meticulously researched history to give a riveting chronicle of every dramatic moment--from Napoleon's daring escape from Elba to the smoke and gore of the three battlefields and their aftermath. Through quotes from the letters and diaries of Emperor Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington, and the ordinary officers and soldiers, Cornwell brings to life how it actually felt to fight those famous battles--as well as the moments of amazing bravery on both sides that left the outcome hanging in the balance until the bitter end. Published to coincide with the battle's bicentennial in 2015, Waterloo is a tense and gripping story of heroism and tragedy--and of the final battle that determined the fate of nineteenth-century Europe.

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9781504611107

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Reviews

Above all, the narrator conveys the relentless carnage. Dugald Bruce Lockhart, a well-known Scottish actor, is very effective at narrating works such as this. Using changes in timing and intonation, he makes the listener feel the soldier's chaos-the deafening cannonade and musketry and screams and shouts and pain. The historical backstory is not the focus here; it's the battle, plain and simple and immensely complex. The author wrote about it before, especially in his fictional Sharpe's Waterloo, published in 1990, part of the bestselling Richard Sharpe series. Cornwell himself narrates the foreword and prologue. -- AudioFile This master storyteller's take on events comes highly recommended to those new to the genre and Waterloo aficionados alike. -- Soldier Magazine This is Cornwell's first book of nonfiction, but he brings a shrewd military historian's mind to his subject. -- Spectator (London) Both vivid and scholarly. Readers new to the Waterloo campaign could hope for no better introduction, and veterans will find fresh insights. -- Independent (London) An excellent first foray into nonfiction, and proof that good narrative history is no different from fiction-it's all about the story. -- Evening Standard (London) Cornwell is excellent on the minutiae of tactics...He offers narrative clarity and a sure grip on personalities and period. -- Sunday Times (London) At the end of Waterloo, readers will feel that they could command a battalion themselves. With historical accounts like this, who needs novels for excitement? -- Wall Street Journal

Author Information

Bernard Cornwell, born in London, worked for the BBC and Thames Television before coming to the United States to write full time. His sweeping historical novels, including the acclaimed Richard Sharpe series and many more, make him a number one bestselling author in the United Kingdom and around the world. He is the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling Saxon Tales series, which serves as the basis for the hit television series The Last Kingdom. Dugald Bruce-Lockhart trained for a career in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, then worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre among others. Since 1998 he has worked as an actor with Propeller, an all-male theater company, of which he is now an associate director. He is an associate of the Teatre Akademia Theatre Company in Barcelona and has directed Romeo and Juliet and As You Like it in Catalan, with new translations by Miqel Desclot. He teaches and directs at drama schools in London including the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, LAMDA and Italia Conti.

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