Download Wellington at Waterloo Jac Weller Books
Download Wellington at Waterloo Jac Weller Books
Download As PDF : Wellington at Waterloo Jac Weller Books
Jac Weller studies every move and countermove of the battle, recreating not only the actions and tactics of the two great leaders but the epic engagements and clashes between the troops themselves that were pivotal for the victory or defeat. The author also studies the related battles of Quatre Bras and Ligny. He takes the reader with him onto the battlefield of Waterloo, a terrain whose features are still recognizable today, and which is bought to life for the reader by detailed maps and by the author's vivid and riveting descriptions of the progress of the fighting. This ‘completely original approach,’ appreciated by the Times Literary Supplement on the books first publication, strikes as fresh today, and this new edition, with an introduction specially written for it by the author, will be eagerly read by military enthusiasts and general reader alike.
Download Wellington at Waterloo Jac Weller Books
"another great read also well packaged in great cond."
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Tags : Wellington at Waterloo (9781848325869) Jac Weller Books,Jac Weller,Wellington at Waterloo,Frontline Books,184832586X,Modern - 19th Century,Napoleon - Adversaries,Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815,Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815.,Wellington, Arthur Wellesley - Military leadership,1769-1821,1769-1852,Adversaries,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Military,Biography Autobiography/Military,Duke of,,Emperor of the French,,HISTORY / Military / General,HISTORY / Modern / 19th Century,History,History - Military / War,History/Modern - 19th Century,History World,I,,Military - General,Military leadership,Napoleon,Napoleonic Wars,REFERENCE / Atlases, Gazetteers Maps (see also TRAVEL / Maps Road Atlases),Reference/Atlases, Gazetteers Maps (see also Travel - Maps Road Atlases),Wellington, Arthur Wellesley,
Wellington at Waterloo Jac Weller Books Reviews :
Wellington at Waterloo Jac Weller Books Reviews
- I enjoyed this account. It's a strategic and tactical analysis of the battles and the Duke's part in them rather than a explanation of what it was like to actually be there. Weller avoids too much of the "what could have happened" navel gazing that 200 years of hindsight tends to give. His last chapter examines some of the controversial aspects of the battle in the context of the time pretty well. The book is definitely pro British and focuses on Wellington's, admittedly huge, contribution to the victory. The contribution of other people and other nationalities is not ignored but it is understated. I think it glosses over some of the stages and details of the battle a little lightly but others have written in more depth. Definitely worth a read.
- There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of books about Waterloss, but Weller brings it alive like no other. And as a sound student of military history, he describes the events, the heroism and the blunders on both sides in expert detail. I have read this book at least a dozen times, and every time I discover some new insight or turn of phrase that makes me smile.
- Great Book. Highly Recommended.
- THIS IS THE BEST OF THE SEVERAL WATERLOO BOOKS THAT I HAVE READ.
- another great read also well packaged in great cond.
- I read this book 30 years ago when I was in college. Later, when I was fortunate enough to tour the Waterloo battlefield, this book helped me understand where and how the major events of the battle took place.
As it's title indicates, this book revolves around Wellington. Weller describes the battle as if it were a chess game. Napoleon made a move; Wellington made an even better counter-move. If the Anglo-Allies made any mistakes it was because the Prince of Orange issued some moronic order. In a general way this may not have been too far from the truth. Of course, any battle involving nearly 200,000 men trying to kill one another is much more chaotic than that.
This criticism aside, this is an excellent book by a careful historian. Certainly, explaining the battle from Wellington's point of view is useful since all the average private soldier usually saw during the battle was the shako of the man in front of him. Weller carefully explains each stage of the battle, including the French "tirailleurade," which is not often noted in other accounts of the battle and which came perilously close to breaking the Anglo-Allied line. I highly recommend this oldie-but-goodie for anyone interested in Napoleonic military history. - This was the second of Jac Weller's three volume studies on the generalship and tactics of Wellington. The Iron Duke is certainly the author's hero, and some of his praise can get a bit heavy at times. One must keep in mind that this work was done many years ago when most books on the Napoleonic Wars were diehard Vive L'Emporeur! I think Weller wanted to go a bit in the opposite direction here.
While the narrative is pro-British for sure, the author does give his due to some of the various allied troops that comprised the Duke's army, and to the Prussians as well. Recent studies have tended to reject some of the older works like this one with their reliance on English language sources of the time. Still, there can be no doubt that Wellington represented a unique and totally different kind of opponet for the Emperior.
Napolean was a master strategist, no doubt. His initial movements for the 1815 campaign came close to achieving his goals. Napolean's genius was in gettinng his army concentrated with superior force at the right point. This he nearly achieved at Waterloo. Tactically, the emperior usually left the actual fighting of his battles to the skills of his marshals. This combination worked very well in all the past great campaigns of 1800-1812 or so. By 1815 most of the great marshals were no longer with the grande armee. Soult was to prove an inadequate Chief of Staff, while Ney was given too much resonsibility. Oddly enough Weller gives a lot of Praise to Ney's efforts on the battlefield, going against many who believed he lost the battle for Napolean.
Wellington was a master tactician. Napolean had taken a more active part in his battles in years past, but by 1815 this was no longer so. The Iron Duke knew how to use terrian and troops to a very high degree. Napolean had just not encountered this level of skill before on the battlefield.
What makes this a unique work is the fact the Weller does not waste a lot of time on discussion of the campaign itself. This he leaves to the many other books out there on the Waterloo campaign. He choses to concentrate on the actual tactical fighting, and what formations both sides employed. While some over-emphasis might be given on the methods of the French colume assaults, Weller makes an interesting point that after the inital set-back of D'Erlon's Corps, the French reverted to fighting tirailleur en-masse. A throw-back to when they did so early in the 1790s. This is a very interesting observation on how the French fought tactically at Waterloo. While Wellington's bastions of Hougamont and Le Haye Sainte sucked in disproportionate amounts of French troops, the mass tirailleur fire nearly caused a crisis in Wellington's center just before the arrival of the Prussians and the final attack of the French Guard.
Weller shows how Wellington responded to each development with the right response and shows that his skill truly was in tactical matters. The only problem here was if Wellington had been killed in any of those tactial situations, the whole Anglo-allied army would have been in dire straights. Weller fails to comment on this aspect of Wellington's personal generalship. The Iron Duke did not trust anyone to do things correctly, and he usually saw fit to be on hand himself. Wellington's skill at being where the crisis of the battle most needed him could well have cost his army dearly if he had been hit in any way. There simply was no one to take his place. The hand of Providence was certainly with him that day.
All in all Weller provides us with a classic tactical study of Waterloo from the British perspective. Readers today won't get a better nuts and bolts narrative in that regard. To balance out Weller's hero worship of Wellington and the thin red line, just have Chandler on hand, and some of the more recent studies that throw light on the contributions of the Dutch-Belgian and German troops. The book also gives some fine descriptions of the battlefield in recent times, and what to see if one ever goes there. I can honestly say from my own visit there that this book holds up well in that regard. Diagrams and orders of battle in the addenda provide added interest and detail for the dedicated reader. A classic study that anyone interested in the final battle of the Napeolonic Wars should have on their shelf.
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