Customer Reviews

Wellington At Waterloo (Greenhill Military Paperbacks)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jac Weller gives an evenhanded account of the great battle of Waterloo, particularly in his assessment of the non-British units under Wellington's command. Also specifically noted are the contributions of the Prussians under Blucher and their long arduous day just to get to the battlefield. The German and Dutch troops fighting alongside the British are given their due and there is much detail to substantiate their worthiness. The author never claims that either Wellington or Blucher were superior than Napoleon on the battlefield, but he clearly points out that both of them outshined the Emperor on June 18, 1815. Weller also states Napoleon's view of what happened on that date; he blamed others such as Ney and Soult, but never himself. The author is quick to note that Napoleon's own brother, Jerome, was mystified by his absence during crucial times of the battle. The debate will go on, but Weller makes the case that Napoleon's actions during the battle and his underestimation of the opposition were the leading factors in his demise.

The history surrounding this famous battle in Belgium and the personalities involved are legend. Weller has produced a masterpiece that defines the smaller movements, fills incredible detail that other historians have glossed over, and provides a very human face to all parties including the `cold' British generals and their Prussian counterparts. Weller provides information on subtle changes in terrain and the purpose behind troop movements, or often lack of them, whilst narrating portions of the battlefield events. Weller also sheds important light upon the minor nations troops and commanders, showing how they were influenced by their years of duty under the French regime and how they too were able to withstand the French onslaught. This reprint is especially welcome as the book should have been classic reading for a generation of amateur historians and wargamers, except for the fact of its limited availability. Highly recommended from one Napoleonic researcher to all historians and gamers no matter what their `nationality' or preference.

Having read many books on Wellington and the Battle of Waterloo, I find this to be one of the best. A further indication of its quality and value to students of the campaign is the fact that Bernard Cornwell, author of the Sharpe novels, listed this as one of his primary sources.

Jac Weller's "Wellington at Waterloo" is the third volume of a trilogy covering Wellington's military experiences in the Napoleonic era. It is best read as part of that trilogy. Weller writes in clear, easy to understand, and usually entertaining prose. He has an excellent grasp of the importance of terrain, and writes better than most about the details of tactics and weapons. His understanding of Wellington enables him to provide a narrative of the conduct of the Battle of Waterloo from Wellington's changing perspective as commander over time. This perspective allows Weller to impose order on the chaos of the battlefield for the general reader. Be warned that Weller was an unabashed fan of Wellington and wastes very little ink on the various academic controversies about the battle. Diehard fans of the military genius of Napoleon should seek elsewhere. Weller breaks no new ground with this book; his interpretation follows standard lines. Those looking for an entertaining and understandable narrative of the battlefield should find this a good read.

This book is neither an attempt at comprehensive coverage of the campaign leading to Waterloo nor meant as an exhaustive study of the battle itself. If one wishes to study either the campaign or the battle more broadly, or more fully, other works by other authors will better serve. But criticism of Mr. Weller's book for its narrow focus on the battle from Wellington's viewpoint would at best be a misreading of the author's intent, since as Bob Burnham's cogent review points out, Mr. Weller wrote this book primarily to give readers an understanding of Wellington's probable view of the battle as the Iron Duke experienced it on foot and horseback, in real time, under field conditions, in 1815 (...).In my opinion Mr. Weller not only largely succeeds in achieving that very specific and limited goal, but also gives a singularly edifying and pleasurable opportunity to learn details of the terrain and buildings of the battlefield as they were when it was fought, and to view the site and structures as extant in the late 1950's and early 1960's. I found descriptions of the battlefield's key elements by Mr. Weller, and the ground-level and airborne photos in his book, greatly informed my visit to Waterloo in 1971, and enhanced my ability to grasp the references made to these same features by other authors.

In conclusion, do not buy this book as either your introduction to the history of the battle or as a definitive and bias-free reference to the whole of the campaign. But do buy this book if you wish a very unique assist unavailable from any other work I'm familiar with per visualizing the "where" and "what" of the battlefield in 1815, and thereby improving your ability to judge for yourself regarding the when and why postulated by other authors for choices made by the various commanders, or the physical events of the battle falling out as they did.

A relatively concise review of the Waterloo campaign by an author who has spent a professional lifetime studying the Duke of Wellington. Highly readable, well paced and and without an excess of detail. Written, however, from an very British point of view by someone who regards the Duke as one of the most compentent commanders in history. He makes that case well in this book.

We are too often blinded by the supposed "brilliance" of Napoleon, but at Waterloo his shortcomings were finally exposed. This book sets out to give an even-handed account of the battle, and presents both commanders in a realistic light. As an avid student of the era, I have long found it strange how Wellington, outnumbered as he was, could win the battle of Waterloo, and yet still "come in second" to Napoleon, whom he so clearly bested.

This worthy book demonstrates that Wellington and Napoleon may have been equal in talent in most departments, but in two areas, the Iron Duke had a clear advantage: he could see "the other side of the hill", and he was always present on a battlefield where he was most needed, at the precise moment he was most needed.

For the apologists for Napoleon, this book will make hard reading. For once an author is not blinded by the light of the late Emperor's posthumous PR machine, and assesses his military talents objectively and coldly, a task long overdue.

Buy this book.

There have been many outstanding books written about the Battle of Waterloo and the Duke of Wellington. The strength of Weller's book is that he synthesizes all of these sources into a very readable narrative of Wellington's actions in Waterloo.

The book focuses mostly on Wellington. It has some excellent chapters on what led up to the battle, the organization of the armies, and most importantly battlefield tactics and strategy. He then spends several chapters (maybe half the book) on the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo. He also has a chapter dedicated to raising and either debunking or supporting criticisms that other historians have raised about the performance of the British, Prussian, and French armies.

Jac Weller was clearly passionate about Wellington. He spent many days walking over the battlefields to put his research into better perspective. He included many maps and pictures, though the pictures are grainy black and whites that probably date for the 60s. I've been to Waterloo several times since the early 90s, and I'd expect that Weller would find the area significantly changed from when he wrote this book. His last chapter is basically his recommendation for a walking tour of the battlefields. My guess is that most of what he recommends can't be followed today.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Bernard Cornwell has written many books about the British Army of this time period in his Sharpe series. Quoting from his website, "[t]here are plenty of good books on Wellington's battles and campaigns, but these three [includes Weller's books on Peninsular War and India], I think, belong on the shelf of anyone who takes a serious interest in the Napoleonic wars." I agree.

This was the second of Jac Weller's three volume studies on the generalship and tactics of Wellington. The Iron Duke is certainly the author's hero, and some of his praise can get a bit heavy at times. One must keep in mind that this work was done many years ago when most books on the Napoleonic Wars were diehard Vive L'Emporeur! I think Weller wanted to go a bit in the opposite direction here.

While the narrative is pro-British for sure, the author does give his due to some of the various allied troops that comprised the Duke's army, and to the Prussians as well. Recent studies have tended to reject some of the older works like this one with their reliance on English language sources of the time. Still, there can be no doubt that Wellington represented a unique and totally different kind of opponet for the Emperior.

Napolean was a master strategist, no doubt. His initial movements for the 1815 campaign came close to achieving his goals. Napolean's genius was in gettinng his army concentrated with superior force at the right point. This he nearly achieved at Waterloo. Tactically, the emperior usually left the actual fighting of his battles to the skills of his marshals. This combination worked very well in all the past great campaigns of 1800-1812 or so. By 1815 most of the great marshals were no longer with the grande armee. Soult was to prove an inadequate Chief of Staff, while Ney was given too much resonsibility. Oddly enough Weller gives a lot of Praise to Ney's efforts on the battlefield, going against many who believed he lost the battle for Napolean.

Wellington was a master tactician. Napolean had taken a more active part in his battles in years past, but by 1815 this was no longer so. The Iron Duke knew how to use terrian and troops to a very high degree. Napolean had just not encountered this level of skill before on the battlefield.

What makes this a unique work is the fact the Weller does not waste a lot of time on discussion of the campaign itself. This he leaves to the many other books out there on the Waterloo campaign. He choses to concentrate on the actual tactical fighting, and what formations both sides employed. While some over-emphasis might be given on the methods of the French colume assaults, Weller makes an interesting point that after the inital set-back of D'Erlon's Corps, the French reverted to fighting tirailleur en-masse. A throw-back to when they did so early in the 1790s. This is a very interesting observation on how the French fought tactically at Waterloo. While Wellington's bastions of Hougamont and Le Haye Sainte sucked in disproportionate amounts of French troops, the mass tirailleur fire nearly caused a crisis in Wellington's center just before the arrival of the Prussians and the final attack of the French Guard.

Weller shows how Wellington responded to each development with the right response and shows that his skill truly was in tactical matters. The only problem here was if Wellington had been killed in any of those tactial situations, the whole Anglo-allied army would have been in dire straights. Weller fails to comment on this aspect of Wellington's personal generalship. The Iron Duke did not trust anyone to do things correctly, and he usually saw fit to be on hand himself. Wellington's skill at being where the crisis of the battle most needed him could well have cost his army dearly if he had been hit in any way. There simply was no one to take his place. The hand of Providence was certainly with him that day.

All in all Weller provides us with a classic tactical study of Waterloo from the British perspective. Readers today won't get a better nuts and bolts narrative in that regard. To balance out Weller's hero worship of Wellington and the thin red line, just have Chandler on hand, and some of the more recent studies that throw light on the contributions of the Dutch-Belgian and German troops. The book also gives some fine descriptions of the battlefield in recent times, and what to see if one ever goes there. I can honestly say from my own visit there that this book holds up well in that regard. Diagrams and orders of battle in the addenda provide added interest and detail for the dedicated reader. A classic study that anyone interested in the final battle of the Napeolonic Wars should have on their shelf.

I read this book 30 years ago when I was in college. Later, when I was fortunate enough to tour the Waterloo battlefield, this book helped me understand where and how the major events of the battle took place.

As it's title indicates, this book revolves around Wellington. Weller describes the battle as if it were a chess game. Napoleon made a move; Wellington made an even better counter-move. If the Anglo-Allies made any mistakes it was because the Prince of Orange issued some moronic order. In a general way this may not have been too far from the truth. Of course, any battle involving nearly 200,000 men trying to kill one another is much more chaotic than that.

This criticism aside, this is an excellent book by a careful historian. Certainly, explaining the battle from Wellington's point of view is useful since all the average private soldier usually saw during the battle was the shako of the man in front of him. Weller carefully explains each stage of the battle, including the French "tirailleurade," which is not often noted in other accounts of the battle and which came perilously close to breaking the Anglo-Allied line. I highly recommend this oldie-but-goodie for anyone interested in Napoleonic military history.