Who was Who at Waterloo: A Biography of the Battle - Softcover

Summerville, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0582784050 ISBN 13: 9780582784055

Publisher: Routledge, 2007

Synopsis

Everyone knows about the Battle of Waterloo – or do they?

This book presents the battle as never before: through the personal stories of over 150 people present at the battle or its immediate aftermath. A reference book, a biographical dictionary, and a myth-busting expose, Who was Who at Waterloo is an indispensable guide to history’s most famous battle.

Arranged in alphabetical order, and with entries highlighted throughout the text like links in a website, the book boasts a colourful cast of soldiers, politicians, peasants, surgeons, artists, novelists, poets, scientists, entrepreneurs, and more. It provides many sorties into nineteenth century culture, politics, medicine and science. It also provides a thorough look at the sources, identifying myths, irregularities and cover-ups. The book demonstrates how little we can really know about Waterloo. And yet it also demonstrates just how much can be said about the battle’s participants.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Who was Who at Waterloo                                                           

Christopher Summerville

'For Waterloo addicts, this biographical compendium is simply unmissable.   Meticulously researched and expertly organised, it represents a quite wonderful resource for both amateur and professional historians alike.' Saul David, author of Military Blunders and Victoria's Wars. 

'An invaluable guide to the men who fought at Waterloo.  A rich mixture of biography laced with anecdote, this book is founded in a deep understanding of this most iconic of battles and the armies that clashed in it.'  Richard Holmes, author of Firing Line and Soldiers.

 

Everyone knows about the Battle of Waterloo – or do they?

After Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington wryly observed: 'If writers would adhere to the golden rule for a historian, viz. to write nothing which they did not know to be true, the Duke apprehends they would have nothing but little to tell.'

When it comes to Waterloo this observation contains great wisdom; much of what we feel we know about Waterloo today is fiction. In this myth-busting exposé of the battle, Christopher Summerville brings us nearer the truth: that there are as many facets to the battle as faces on the field.

 

About the Author:

Christopher Summerville is a freelance editor and writer specialising in military history. His ambition is to popularise the Napoleonic era, and to make that most colourful and dramatic of periods accessible to the general reader. He has published several books on the period including Napoleon's Polish Gamble: Eylau and Friedland 1807(2005), Regency Recollections: Captain Gronow's Guide to Life in London and Paris (2006) and March of Death: Sir John Moore's Retreat to Corunna, 1808-1809 (2003). He lives and works in York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0582784050
• ISBN 13: 9780582784055
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 488