Went the Day Well?

Starred review from March 23, 2015
While taking an hour-by-hour look at the Battle of Waterloo, which was fought June 17, 1815, British historian Crane (Scott of Antarctica) focuses less on the conflict itself than on what came to be called “the age of Waterloo” in Britain. Crane’s account of Napoleon’s defeat is somewhat disjointed, but he more than compensates with his superb, kaleidoscopic look at domestic life of the period. He introduces readers to the lives of such noteworthy figures as the poet Lord Byron, who, at the time, was in an unhappy marriage and heavily in debt after an affair with his half-sister. Readers also meet lesser-known but culturally significant individuals, including Benjamin Haydon, a painter of monumental historical scenes; prize-fighter Jack Shaw, who was killed in a cavalry charge at Waterloo; and writer Caroline Lamb, who that day was “putting the final touches on the longest suicide note in history.” Particularly interesting is the case of suspected, and possibly framed, murderess Eliza Fenning and the way it was used politically by Whigs and Tories alike. Crane accents his well-paced, fluid style with nice poetic touches, and he succeeds admirably in showing both the socioeconomic fissures in early 19th-century Britain and the ways that Waterloo inaugurated a sense of the county’s “manifest destiny” of becoming the 19th century’s leading imperial power. Maps.

Starred review from March 1, 2015
As the armies gathered in June 1815, few doubted that a world-shaking event was in the works. Britons poured into Belgium to witness the excitement; those remaining behind agonized, debated, and quarreled; others went about their daily lives.Most important, they wrote letters, kept journals, and tangled with the law. British historian Crane (Empires of the Dead: How One Man's Vision Led to the Creation of WWI's War Graves, 2013) mines this bonanza of material for a delightful chronicle of how Britons, famous and obscure, in and out of the Duke of Wellington's army, experienced the iconic battle. Crane astutely reminds us that not everyone yearned for a British victory. Britons were free, but they were governed by an aristocratic oligarchy mired in corruption and supported by a minuscule electorate. Reformers, energized by the French Revolution but devastated by 20 years of war and vicious attacks on their patriotism, made their voices heard. Crane creates a vivid portrait of perhaps the most notorious Napoleon advocate, the driven, misanthropic writer William Hazlitt, but he was only one of a coterie of famous names (Lamb, Byron, Hunt, Godwin) who spoke for a voluble and not insignificant number of their countrymen. Readers will marvel at the richly expressed feelings of servants, soldiers, prisoners, wives, and lovers, rich and poor, not excepting many who, preoccupied with their own problems, ignored the great battle. "Beyond London," writes the author, "spreading out in concentric rings across the blackness of the country and the farms and villages and towns of Britain, thirteen million souls lived out their own separate lives in this strange phoney pause in the nation's life....The day of Waterloo had begun." A historical tour de force-a fascinating panorama of Great Britain during the summer of Waterloo.

Starred review from March 15, 2015

As the bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo (June 18) draws near, the books appear. These two, by freelance historian Crane (Empires of the Dead; Scott of the Antarctic), and historical fiction writer Cornwell (The Empty Throne; The Pagan Lord) are near -perfect bookends to the event.

Drawing on letters and memoirs, Crane paints a varied portrait of Englishmen's preoccupations in that extraordinary age. Not all wished for victory over the usurper; there was still a radical tradition in English politics though it had been largely stifled by repressive war legislation. In assessing England's 20 years of war, Crane explains how the national debt soared to 861 million and poverty abounded. Although England emerged as an undisputed ruler of the world's trade, the chance of desperately needed political reform had been squashed and would not emerge for another two decades. How was it, Crane asks, that a war that had mobilized the citizenry for 20 years left them, at the end, in worse shape than they'd been before? Crane does not slight the battle, but the addition of other narratives results in a richer portrait of what was being thought about at a pivotal moment in history.

Cornwell is a respected writer of historical fiction, specializing in narratives of battle. (See his "Sharpe" series about an ordinary infantryman during the Napoleonic Wars.) No one, not even the great military historian John Keegan, describes or explains battle better than Cornwell, and that is one of the signal virtues of this account. There are no new findings, yet Cornwell illustrates so clearly and with such an assured sense of pacing that this messy and confusing set of battles is easier to follow, understand, and thus appreciate. Copious illustrations assist the narrative. VERDICT History buffs will relish both of these works. Readers should also consider Brendan Simms's The Longest Afternoon. [See Prepub Alert, 11/17/14.]--David Keymer, Modesto, CA

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