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David Hamilton-Williams

Waterloo P Paperback – January 25, 1996

by David Hamilton-Williams (Author), The Marquess of Anglesey (Foreword)

23 ratings

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Critical acclaim for Waterloo: New Perspectives The Great Battle Reappraised.

"[T]he most important study of the Waterloo Campaign to have appeared in print for 150 years." —The Napoleonic Society of America.

"A meticulously detailed account of the Battle of Waterloo that sets right some of the errors and omissions of facts committed by earlier contemporary authors —recommended." —Library Journal.

"A superior account of the campaign—free of nationalist bias, thoroughly researched, and clearly written."—Booklist

"A thoughtful and dispassionate examination of the battle that brought Napoleon's power to an end ...a valuable addition to anyone's Napoleonic shelf." —The Washington Times.

Print length

484 pages
Language

English
Publisher

John Wiley & Sons
Publication date

January 25, 1996
Dimensions

6 x 1.09 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0471145718
ISBN-13

978-0471145714
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This complete revisionist assessment of the Battle of Waterloo will shake Napoleonic study to its roots, challenging every previous text and atlas on the Napoleonic era. Based on 10 years of research, the author has uncovered huge coverups by British politicians, military commanders and regimental authorities. Includes 80 illustrations and maps to dramatize these new, startling revelations.

From the Back Cover

Critical acclaim for Waterloo: New Perspectives The Great Battle Reappraised.

"[T]he most important study of the Waterloo Campaign to have appeared in print for 150 years." --The Napoleonic Society of America.

"A meticulously detailed account of the Battle of Waterloo that sets right some of the errors and omissions of facts committed by earlier contemporary authors --recommended." --Library Journal.

"A superior account of the campaign--free of nationalist bias, thoroughly researched, and clearly written."--Booklist

"A thoughtful and dispassionate examination of the battle that brought Napoleon's power to an end ...a valuable addition to anyone's Napoleonic shelf." --The Washington Times.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ John Wiley & Sons; 1st edition (January 25, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 484 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0471145718
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0471145714
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.09 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,420,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,608 in Napoleonic War History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
23 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		61%
4 star		27%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star		6%
1 star		6%

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Top reviews from the United States

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John E. Ziegler

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2017

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Best book I ever read on Waterloo, and I have read quite a few!!!

One person found this helpful

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Tony Scott

Let's be strict about sources.

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2018

Most critics complain about Hamilton-Williams sources. Well if we're going to be strict about sources, let's disregard all reviews by "A Customer" and then see what the balance of opinion looks like.

And be sure to read Hamilton-Williams' own rebuttal here among the reviews.

2 people found this helpful

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Alan Ellis

New Perspectives says it all

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2019

This is my fourth book I've read on Waterloo and I appreciate the new perspectives and the depth and detail presented.

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W. B. Smith

Reappraises All Partcipants

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2006

This book provides an excellent account of the entire Waterloo campaign and not just the Battle of Waterloo itself. The author touches on the injustices created by Siborne's model & account of the battle that badly portrayed the non-British contingents of the Allied army. Unfortunately, Sibornes account became accepted as historical fact.

The book briefly covers the demise of Napoleon in 1814 (and the treachery of key people in this), his return, and the intriguing political manoeurving and squabbling amongst the Allies at the Congress of Vienna. It was perhaps Napoleon's misfortune that the Allied leaders or representatives were gathered in one place to reach agreement on what action to take against him.

The author gives a good account of the initial French thrust into Belgium and the twin battles of Ligny & Quatre Bras. The author shows that Wellington's slow reaction to the invasion could have cost him dearly if troops of the Netherlands did not decide on their own initiative to hold the position at Quatre Bras. Marshal Ney is given more credit than what normally is given to him in that he had very little time to familiarize himself with his forces & disposition, and that his forces were still closing up to be able to launch an early attack on the Quatre Bras cross roads. However, it was probably Napoleon's biggest errors in not totally confiding with his Marshals, ultimately leading to the mishandling of d'Erlon's troops (that could have decisively defeated the Prussians at Ligny) and delaying the decision to pursue the defeated Prussians. The author also emphasizes Napoleon seems handicapped by the lack of presence of his old Chief of Staff.

The Battle of Waterloo itself is well covered off and the author draws on various accounts and references of the battle. The author gives credit where it is due, especially the non-British Allied forces whose actions are well covered and explained and thereby dispelling many myths that have arisen. In fact, all participants in the campaign are given good coverage and evaluation. Overall, the book shows how closely fought the Battle of Waterloo was, and that d'Erlon's main assault almost succeeded in breaking Wellington's line (if it wasn't for the perfect timing of the British cavalry that was Uxbridge's brilliance not Wellington's). There has been much controversy over the use of French cavalry charges, but as the author points out, Napoleon had nothing else but with to maintain pressure on Wellington's line and this had worked previously at Eylau against the Russians.

The books tends to show there are key moments of decision or indecision that may win or lose a battle/campaign. e.g. Rebecque's & Perpocher's decision to hold Quatre Bras, the tussle for the use of d'Erlon's troops at Quatre Bras or Ligny, the Prussian retreat to Wavre rather than along their lines of communication and supply, the delay in the pursuit of the Prussians, the perfect timing of British cavalry, the delay in the use of the Guard, Steinmetz attack at the hinge of Napoleon's army etc. Hamilton-Williams sums up that Napoleon lost the battle but ultimately his downfall was caused by the treachery of Tallyerand and Fouche in Paris and Napoleon's refusal to use force to ensure his power was maintained.

I found this to be an indepth, well researched analysis of the Waterloo campaign and a thoroughly enjoyable one.

15 people found this helpful

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K. Patton

Well worth reading!

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2008

I enjoy any history that takes a new look at old tired accounts. Especially accounts that have a national bias. The main thrust of the authors account is that he relied on first person correspondence from all participants in the battle. This was something "THE" last word on the battle, Mr. Silborn did not. I find it funny that professional and amateur historians alike take great umbrage when their sacred cows are gored. History to them is like a religion and they respond the very way a religionist of any belief would when their "faith" is impugned. They scream heretic and want to stoke up the fires to burn them any way they can. They should get a life and remember that history is written by the victors. They should welcome dessenting voices. I reckon our religious training as kids condition us against questioning The Word, no matter what discipline it comes from. I think the Author cast enough doubt on the Silborn's work to make any existing version of the battle of doubtful veracity.
The book is well worth reading.

6 people found this helpful

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Miles

A Scholarly and Catholic Work

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2002

Mr. Hamilton Williams analyzes the entire hundred days campaign in a catholic and imperious manner. What is most striking about his work are the many levels at which it can be read. At the most rudimentary level, the book provides an elegantly written and clearly presented account of the factual events of the hundred days campaign.

Woven in to this factual narrative are nuggets of analysis. Mr. Hamilton-Williams draws unorthodox yet reasonable conclusions about the hundred days campaign. One of the more controversial arguments the book posits suggests that Waterloo was lost due to the incompetence of Napoleon Bonaparte's subordenates, and not the failures of Napoleon himself. And this suggestion does not lack merit. When he returned from Elba, Napoleon was faced with grave disadvantages; some self wrought and others unavoidable. Most dicisive (argues Hamilton-Williams) was the loss of Marshal Berthier, Bonaparte's long time (nearly 20 year's) Chief of Staff. Without Berthier's gift of clear translation of the often garbled and confusing verbal orders of Bonaparte, the cogs of the French military machine began to fall apart, and grave miscommunications occured, miscommunications that led to the downfall of Bonaparte at Waterloo. The other disadvantage worthy of recap was the loss of Marshal Murat, Bonaparte's brilliant cavalry captain. It was his absence, an absence caused by Bonaparte, that resulted in the dismal failure of Marshal Ney's cavalry charge at Waterloo, and the consequent failure of Napoleon Bonaparte at that battle. All of this is fully and more elegantly explained in Mr. Hamiliton-Williams penetrating and scholarly work.

In short, Mr. Hamilton-Williams has provided in <I>Waterloo: New Perspectives</I> an historical gem, that should be read by all scholars of the Napoleonic era.

17 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

russell tunstall

Waterloo

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

Well researched a good read for all military history buffs

Gilly Miller

Waterloo Comparison

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

Interesting to compare my brother in laws book, June 1815 The Belgium Campaign against it, although I am still digesting both books

Tony Howard

A Worthwhile Read - but keep plenty of salt handy...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2010

Verified Purchase

I've had this book for several years, but had been rather put off by some of the almost hysterical reviews I have seen. I finally got around to reading it, and am very pleasantly surprised. As a piece of popular history, it is written vigorously and skilfully, although Mr Hamilton-Williams (or whatever his real name is) has a tendency to express himself in rather extreme terms. This is entertaining, once you get the hang of it, but maybe doesn't imbue some of his more unusual theories with the sort of scholarly dignity which would help him to be taken seriously.

I'm a keen amateur student of military history - I would not claim to be an expert on Waterloo, but I have read pretty widely on the period, and I know enough to able to take the book on its merits. And it certainly has merits - from a positive aspect, this is well put together and stimulating, and it is invaluable as a challenge to some of the patriotic and time-honoured distortions which are built into our received understanding of these events. If anything gets you thinking, gets you to question an accepted standpoint, then it is potentially useful. On the negative side, some of the ideas are a little on the wild side, and (as mentioned elsewhere) the sources are questionable, and sometimes incestuous (the first chapter, almost exclusively, quotes Mr H-W's other book on the period as a reference, without further detail). The author is at times fatiguingly partial - his world is clearly full of good guys and bad guys, though no more so than some of the reviewers visible here.

But it's great stuff - it hangs together well, it certainly drew my attention to a lot of things I hadn't seen or thought about before, and is generally a breath of fresh air. I recommend it very strongly, but don't make it the only book on Waterloo you ever read (a balanced diet would also include David Chandler, Jacques Logie and Peter Hofschroer and - if you want something of completely opposite polarity, Jac Weller's eulogy of Wellington). It usefully draws attention to a lot of accepted hokum posing as history; the big flaw is that it proposes to replace much of it with ideas which are at best questionable, and are sometimes maybe just more, different hokum.

3 people found this helpful

Steve

A definite read for all those seriously interested in the subject

Reviewed in Canada on April 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

A definite read for all those seriously interested in the subject. A very different re-appraisal.

gronnard

refreshingly honest appraisal

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2012

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A new look at Waterloo without the usual jaundiced boring jingoistic view of the battle also it destroys the myth of some not all of the ill informed writers that Wellington was an infaliable military tactician likewise Napoleon. An excellent informative read the battle described in away that leads the reader to smell the spent gunpowder and her the screams and shouts of the injured. It also puts paid to the claims that Sidbourne got it right. What a book what a read what an author.

One person found this helpful

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