On the afternoon of 1 March, 1815, a fleet of ships dropped anchor off the southeast coast of France. After ten months in exile on the island of Elba, the Emperor Napoleon had returned to reclaim his throne. European chancelleries responded by immediately preparing for war. Just a year earlier, four great powers - England, Austria, Russia and Prussia - had combined to defeat Napoleon. Now, these four countries made a pledge to invade France from all sides.
Thus begins The Battle, a thrilling new account of the great Battle of Waterloo, which survivors from all sides deemed, in the words of an English officer 'a terrible fight for a terrible stake: freedom or slavery to Europe.'
