Discount Price: $12.95
Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN num: 9781842127193
ISBN number: 1842127195
Label: Phoenix Press
Manufacturer: Phoenix Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 192
Printing Date: August 28, 2003
Publishing house: Phoenix Press
Sale Popularity Level: 809765
Studio: Phoenix Press
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The very first shots were fired at about eleven-thirty on a Sunday morning in June, 1815; by nine o'clock that night, forty thousand men lay dead or wounded, and Napoleon had abandoned not only his army, but all hope of recovering his empire. From the recollections of the men who were there, esteemed author David Howarth has recreated the battle as it appeared to them on the day it was fought. He follows the fortunes of men of all ranks and on both sides. But it is on the French side that the mysteries remain. Why did Ney attack with cavalry alone? And was Napoleon's downfall really due to the minor ailment he suffered that day? Beautifully written, vivid, and unforgettable, this illuminating history is impossible to put down.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
"Waterloo: A Near Run Thing" by David Howarth.
Phoenix Paperback, London, Orion Books Ltd, 1968 and paperback in 2003.
In a large chain bookstore, I noticed this paperback in the "History" section near the World War II offerings; the book made me recall my European History professor who stated that most of us would remember Waterloo as the "Big Battle", in France, early 19th Century, which ended the comeback of Emperor Napoleon. Of course, using the common mistake as a lead-in, the professor said that the Battle of Waterloo was in Belgium, not France, and then wandered off on how Belgium had suffered through so many big battles, including the Battle of the Bulge, 1944. So, from a sense of duty, despite the original 1968 copyright date, I purchased this book and I was not disappointed. Exceptional writing.
David Howarth, (1912-1991), was an excellent writer of History. In "Waterloo", Howarth has drawn upon sources (almost two centuries' old), and fashioned the comments of the ordinary British soldiers and officers into a fresh and life-like accounting of the day, 18 June 1815.
It was as if you were standing alongside the soldier in the British square awaiting the charge of the French cavalry. The author has made the events of that June 1815 sparkling new on the paperback pages. In my humble opinion, you should be aware that the author favors the British point of view. Of course, the title, "A Near Run Thing" is a British idiom, indicating that point of view. The author raises the question of Napoleon's supposed illness on that fateful day; what was wrong with him? However, I am still looking for a book which gives better or full credit to the Prussian Field Marshall Bloucher (I still do not know how to get the Amazon word processor to put in umlauts), and his Prussian soldiers in their grey uniforms with white facings. In any event, Waterloo WAS a great victory for the allies, ending the ambitions of Napoleon, and freeing Europe from the dominance of France. The Duke of Wellington played a key role in the triumph, but if the Prussians had not arrived when they had....
Don't let the copyright date of almost 40 years ago throw you off; this book is worth the purchase price.
Rated by buyers -
This is a brilliant book. David Howarth captured the great story of what it was really like at one of the most important events of history. He is unbiased and fair. His characters draw and compel you through the story. It is a book that I could not put down. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Rated by buyers -
This is a very interesting and well written book - it brings to life the battle itself. I would have liked more on the defence by the Young Guard,but overall well worth it.
Rated by buyers -
While browsing the shelves I came across Howarth's book on Waterloo. Two hours later I felt that I had been an eye witness to history.
Of all the books I have read on Waterloo, Howarth's writing style and description come closest to the actual battle. His use of soldier's diaries in the telling brings home the actual chaos of that day, along with the twisting turns of fortune culminating in the charge of the Old Guard. This is one for the shelves!
Rated by buyers 
-
Books about great battles typically describe events from a helicopter perspective, with little interest for how it was in reality for the soldiers on the ground. This book takes the opposite approach : taking the actual experience of a small number of real soldiers, mostly on Wellington's side, and weaving these together into a coherent story, Howarth has written a much more vivid picture of this very special battle.
The battle lends itself to this sort of approach : it was fought on a compact battlefield, less than 5 square miles, between up to 150,000 soldiers for 9 hours and it was so bloody that it took one hundred years, until the hundred miles long front in France in World War I, for as many man to fall in a single day. Also, the battle was truly a near run thing, and, if Napoleon had had a better day, things could have turned out very different. Howarth is particularly good at describing almost graphically how the fate of the battle hung in a balance, swinging between sides during the day on several occasions.
I have visited the Waterloo battlefield a number of times and read several books about it. None describes the battle as well how it must have been for the soldiers, including the deafening noise - it was claimed the cannon noise was heard as far away as Kent in England - , the smells, the damp cold, the pain - one French soldier, having just had his leg amputated, brandishes it in the air shouting "vive l'Empereur". Yet, there is a clear thread in the individual experiences which adds up to a good description of the battle. Granted, the battle is seen mostly through British soldiers' eyes, it is not clear how the crucial attack by the Garde Imperiale suddenly falters and the Prussians' assault in Placenoit is referred to as by "a few Prussians", this is still the best book I have read about this battle.
And it is short (a key criterion for a good book)
Find other books like this one:
