The Battle of Waterloo

December 21, 2009
Cool British resolve defeats heavy-handed Gallic bluster in this probing study of the famous battle. University of Exeter military historian Black gives a lucid, if sometimes disjointed, narrative of the 1815 Waterloo campaign, set within a canny analysis of the grand strategy of the Napoleonic wars and of technological and organizational developments in 18th-century warfare. The author is disdainful of Napoleon's generalship in his last battle. In Black's reckoning, the French emperor is overconfident and lethargic, sitting in the rear and launching masses of infantry, artillery, and cavalry in unimaginative frontal assaults. Wellington, by contrast, is brave, shrewd, and energetic, always up front and under fire, encouraging his men and waiting for an opening to counterattack. Black paints a well-balanced portrait of the time, moving easily from the level of operations where generals plan and blunder to the firing line where common soldiers slaughter each other. He's at his most provocative in assessing Waterloo's world-historical import. Wellington's triumph is often judged a victory of reaction over revolution, but Black argues the opposite:the British, he cogently insists, were the era's real agents of change and progress, clearing away the “dead end”of Napoleon's bloody adventurism.

December 15, 2009
There has been an almost untold number of books written about the Battle of Waterloo, and, with the bicentennial just around the corner (2015), there will be countless more. Enter prolific British military historian Black (history, Univ. of Exeter; "War: A Short History") with an interesting approach to the battle, placing it in the broader context of its era. Black presents a short account of Waterloo set against the canvas of world events during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, focusing on the changing nature of warfare, in part a result of major power shifting across Europe at the time. Napoleon faced an entirely different alliance of enemies when he left exile on Elba to retake power than when he had originally left France for Elba. Tactics that were successful before proved not to be so at Waterloo, and Black emphasizes the military modernization occurring with the Allies who fought Napoleon there. The author also devotes some time to the subsequent treatment of the battle in the countries that had been engaged there. VERDICT One of the better short accounts of this crucial battle, done with a nice adjustment of approach. Recommended.David Lee Poremba, Windermere, FL

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2010
Eminent British military historian Black narrates Napol'ons final defeat in 1815 amid an analysis of military methods of the period. Reviewing theories for deployment of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, Black recounts their practical results in the Napoleonic Wars, rating the 1812 Battle of Borodino as the harbinger of Waterloo. In both, Napol'on adopted the frontal assault, but at Waterloo, Black argues, his poor coordination between the infantry and cavalry probably denied the French a victory in the battles early hours, when the initial attack pierced Wellingtons line but was thrown back. If a critic of Napol'ons battlefield decisions, Black is not a facile one; he underscores options available to Napol'on during the daylong carnages changing tactical situation; they finally vanished when the Prussian army arrived and crushed the French right flank. Blacks consideration of Wellingtons command performance is equally subtle and supports the British generals pithy quotation of Waterloo as the nearest-run thing you ever saw. Incorporating the international political context, Blacks incisive appraisal taps the enduring interest in this ghastly, decisive battle.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)