The three commanders-in-chief during the Waterloo campaign rank among the most famous soldiers in history. Rarely have three such remarkable men as Napoleon, Wellington and Blucher confronted each other on a field of battle or had such an impact on the history of their time. Andrew Uffindell, in this readable and meticulously researched three-part biography, gives vivid accounts of their parallel lives and extraordinary careers. The dramatic contrasts that emerge between their backgrounds, personalities and methods of command offer a fascinating insight into the secrets of leadership and into the warfare of the Napoleonic era.>> In his study, the careers of the commanders before Waterloo are discussed and compared. The formative influences, opportunities and wartime experiences that shaped their thinking and fitted them for high command are recorded here. As he shows, in June 1815 their remarkable strengths, and corresponding weaknesses, were made starkly apparent. During one of the shortest, most momentous campaigns in military history, Wellington and Blucher confronted Napoleon in a supreme test of leadership. The future shape of Europe depended on the outcome. AUTHOR: Andrew Uffindell is a leading British military historian and one of the outstanding modern writers on the Napoleonic Wars. Among his many books are The Eagle's Last Triumph: Napoleon's Victory at Ligny, On the Fields of Glory: The Battlefields of the 1815 campaign, Great Generals of the Napoleonic Wars and Their Battles 1805-1815 and The National Army Museum Book of Wellington's Armies 1808 - 1815 16 illustrations
