UKH

I know little or nothing about this subject, the battle, not the song, and would like to read up on it and watch a decent film.
Any recommendations gratefully received.

In reply to Co1in H:
If you were to read one book I'd suggest The Battle by Alessandro Barbero is a great read. Combines the strategic, tactical and 1st person accounts. There was only one film made I believe - Waterloo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_%281970_film%29

I walked the battlefield a few years back with a mate who shared my interest. We drove over night, bivvied at the battlefield, up at dawn and walked the whole thing. We did this in November so quieter. Amazing experience and it's frightening to see how small it is - and how many men fought and died in such a small area.

In reply to Co1in H:

The film "Waterloo" with Rod Steiger as Napoleon was pretty good.

In reply to Co1in H:

Sharpe's Waterloo was my introduction to it and I must have read other accounts since but that one sticks with me. Sure it doesn't dot its historical i's and cross its historical t's but it was a stonking good read.

In reply to Co1in H:

Thanks everyone. Must give the film a re-run. Lot's of well known actors in it, particularly from TV, if I remember correctly.
I've read the Sharpe book but I'll give The Battle a go.
I believe that there is a new book out this week, but the review I read was not too good. Still, probably worth a look.
Thanks again.

In reply to Co1in H:

Just found this:

http://www.nam.ac.uk/waterloo200/

In reply to Co1in H:

The Face of Battle by John Keegan looks at three battles, all fought fairly close together , geographically, Agincourt, Waterloo & The Somme. Dead good.

In reply to lowersharpnose:


I'd second this - he even equates top end mountaineering with combat!

In reply to Co1in H:

"Adventures in the Rifle Brigade in the Peninsula, France and the Netherlands, from 1809 to 1815" by John Kincaid is worth a read, written in 1830 by an officer who went through the Peninsular and Waterloo campaign.

http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/military-history/adve...

Another interesting & detailed book is "Wellington at Waterloo" by Jac Weller

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/575862.Wellington_at_Waterloo

As one of the reviewers says, it's possibly a bit dated now.

In reply to Co1in H:

Stendhal's classic "The Charterhouse of Parma" has the clueless hero running around Waterloo without any idea of what's going on, or if he's even in a proper battle at all. There is quite a lot else besides, but it's good for seeing how many Europeans saw Napoleon.

In reply to Co1in H:

Andrew Roberts biography of Napoleon is meant to be superb (had it recommended to me, not read it yet, so this is a 2nd hand, unsupported recommendation). It should give you a good bit of depth about not just the battle but the full circumstances and events surrounding it. I hope.

In reply to Co1in H:


BTW All you need to know is that Boney lost because his "Farmer Giles" were playing up!

In reply to seankenny:

In a similar vein one of the novelette-length digressions in Les Miserables is an account from the French side, how treachery cost them victory.

In reply to Co1in H:

Hi Colin.Bernard Cornell, Has recently published Waterloo, an excellent factual account (he did also cover it with Sharpe).
Strongly recommend you give it a look.
Jon

In reply to Co1in H:

If you fancy some related fiction, The Revolution Quartet by Simon Scarrow chronicles the lives of Napoleon and Wellington, and covers all the campaigns up to and including Waterloo.

Dave

In reply to Co1in H:

Remember reading a book called 'Four days in June' on Waterloo. Long time ago but remember it was quite interesting, looked at the battle from the viewpoints of three or four people and their personal accounts. Same mould as 'Rifles' another good book looking at the wider war.

In reply to Pepper:

Thanks again everyone. Lot's more than I thought. I also found a book called The Battle which has the story from the point of view of each of the three armies.
Cheers
Colin