For the first time a modern British history tells the story of the against the odds triumph of the Battle of Waterloo through the accounts of the regimental officers and soldiers whose bravery and resolution achieved victory.
Waterloo was the first major battle in which the citizen soldier played an important part - a new class of soldier reflecting the Industrial Revolution, which had so transformed Britain in the preceding thirty years. In many ways it was an army that looked forward to the twentieth century rather than back to the eighteenth. It was also a battle fought and won by British soldiers who believed in what they were fighting for against a resurgent Napoleon. They were a remarkably literate army, and for the first time there are multiple accounts of personal experiences from a generation to whom education was becoming available.
With a concise, fast moving account in four parts covering first the mobilisation and why people went; secondly the waiting before Waterloo, then the battle itself and finally the aftermath, ex-Commander of the British Army Barney White-Spunner tells the story through the experiences of those who fought there and their families, offering his unique perspective on the events. The story focuses on mens' personal feelings and their relationships, with each other, their families, their leaders and their enemies. It tells the stories of their lives, what they had left behind and why and what they went back to. It vividly captures their daily routine, their life in camp and how they fought at first hand, their fear, excitement and exhaustion, as opposed to how generals manoeuvred formations around the battlefield.
The Battle of Waterloo was one of the most significant ever fought by a British army, but it was also one of the most bloody with about 50,000 men losing their lives over three days. What was it like for those who fought and for their families waiting at home? This is their story.
