02/16/2015
For history readers who appreciate grainy, detailed battle accounts, this fine book concerns the carnage, heroism, and occasional stupidity that occurred around a single Belgian farmhouse at the center of the battlefield at Waterloo during a few hours in 1815. Normally, images of Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington are conjured when thinking of that conflict—when the deposed French emperor tried to retake his imperial throne after a triumphal return from Elba. But as usual, these historical giants had much less to do with the battlefield than their soldiers, many of whom on the British side hailed from the German kingdom of Hanover. With the aid of astonishingly-preserved and vivid contemporary accounts, Simms (Europe), of Peterhouse College, Cambridge, brings these soldiers' actions brilliantly alive. From battlefield records two centuries old, he's extracted moving scenes of their courage, bravery, and initiative. In the end, there's no question that the shape and history of 19th-century Europe owes a debt to these 400-odd warriors, who withstood repeated waves of French forces and prevented Napoleon's breakthrough. It's a remarkably detailed book, which is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness. Nevertheless, Simms shows that without these troops, Great Britain and the German states would have been deeply imperiled. (Feb.)
"Simms tells the story of the combat for La Haye Sainte with the rich, gritty, eyewitness detail that it deserves.... Simms' engaging narrative is one of bravery, terror and suffering.... Simms offers a reminder that Waterloo was not fought just between the British and French, but was very much a European battle."
—New York Times Book Review
"Mr. Simms's fluent and meticulously researched narrative nonetheless provides enough context to engage not only specialists, but also readers unfamiliar with the broader historical background. By focusing upon a particular episode, rather than the bigger picture, Mr. Simms manages to reflect the grim reality of Waterloo better than some more comprehensive surveys."
—Wall Street Journal
"A superb little book that is micro-history at its best."
—Washington Post
"An hour-by-hour, blow-by-blow account by Brendan Simms of one particularly hard-fought segment of the battle...which achieves the difficult feat of looking from a fresh, useful angle on a subject that is among the most minutely scrutinized in European history...[a] vividly told story...[with] a pacy narrative that evokes the smoke, heat and confusion of battle"
—Financial Times
"Simms writes from the perspective of the mud-caked battlefield. As a result, Wellington's victory is presented in all its savagery, vainglory, and desperation.... [I]t would seem that Waterloo was fought by soldiers who were tortured by right and wrong alike, men who intended to accomplish far more than killing."
—Battles and Book Reviews
"Through his clever ability to entwine first-person accounting with historical narrative, Simms allows the reader to explore the many facets of the battle in detailed depth and vivid focus...This is a very authoriative piece. Between the number of powerful first-person accounts and detailed historical events, the book reads as a minute-by-minute eyewitness accounting. The deliberate story line and powerful detailing leaves little room for question...The greatest attraction of this book is its ability to tell the story of the battle in a very realistic sense...The reader is drawn into the history and given insight to feel the accountings in a very real and pragmatic fashion."
—Military Review
"Simms recounts the fight from a fresh angle, delivering a thoroughly satisfying addition to a vast genre.... Aided by a surprising number of letters, memoirs and commentaries from participants, Simms write a vivid account even readers familiar with Waterloo should not pass up."
—Military History
"A vivid and compelling account of a fight that for much of the afternoon was not merely a battle within a battle but was the battle itself."
—Evening Standard, UK
"Short but action-packed book...patient readers will be rewarded by the meticulous way Simms assembles the pieces of an enormously complicated jigsaw puzzle."
—Weekly Standard
"This tight, vivid account brings the reader into the heart of the epic conflict.... [A] gripping and original account of men in battle."
—Washington Independent Review of Books
"[Simms] brings his readers into the mud and blood, into the near constant shelling, the cries of the wounded and dying. We are with these soldiers before the battle, hung over, hungry and soaking wet, and during the seemingly endless succession of infantry and cavalry charges."
—Providence Journal
"Told in clear, concise and colorful prose. The rich details and Simms' ability to breathe life into primary source documents make this an exceptional war story."
—Roanoke Times
"Simms brings the life the intensity of war on a 19th-century battlefield, and the depth of bravery in both ranks."
—Washington Times
"Narrative and microhistory at its best."—War on the Rocks
"An important and interesting perspective on a battle.... An overview of battle often dehumanizes, describing units of men as mere chess pieces. This book joins many others that attempt to remedy that. There is so much more to be said about Waterloo, how it came to happen, its grand strategic impulses and consequences, Napoleonic warfare in general etc. But as a battle itself is performed by numerous actors in various positions, to be able to see one segment with such accuracy is instructive. Brendan Simms has done an admirable job."
—Armchair General
"Simms does an admirable job of showing that stories do still count. This thoroughly engrossing account will thrill all history lovers."
—Library Journal, starred review
"For history readers who appreciate grainy, detailed battle accounts, this fine book concerns the carnage, heroism, and occasional stupidity that occurred around a single Belgian farmhouse at the center of the battlefield at Waterloo during a few hours in 1815.... A remarkably detailed book."
—Publishers Weekly
"[A] gripping account of the bloody, heroic defense of La Haye Sainte...Simms takes advantage of abundant letters and memoirs to deliver an engrossing, often gruesome nuts-and-bolts description of that afternoon."
—Kirkus
"Very engaging"—Spectator, UK
★ 01/01/2015
There are times when a relatively small number of men can make a difference. Napoleon's armies routed Prussian forces before the critical battle of Waterloo (1815) but Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher—in support of British solider Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington—refused to concede. Blücher rallied his troops and guided them back to battle. His return was the decisive moment in the final defeat of the French army. Before Blücher's reappearance though, French pressure on the line of the Duke of Wellington threatened to overwhelm the Allies. That is, until the battle for farmhouse-compound La Haye Sainte where, in the middle of the battle line, 400 Hanoverians fended off repeated attacks from French troops for five hours, buying Blücher enough time to reengage and attack. It can be easy to forget that history started as telling stories and that good stories explain things, imposing order on and assigning significance to the chaos of contingent events. Simms (history, Cambridge Univ.; Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, from 1453 to the Present) has done an admirable job of showing that stories do still count. VERDICT This thoroughly engrossing account will thrill all history lovers.—David Keymer, Modesto, CA
2014-11-18
A slim but gripping account of the bloody, heroic defense of La Haye Sainte, a farmhouse that Napoleon had to capture to reach the Duke of Wellington's army.The massive stone building survives intact; not so its defenders, a battle-tested unit of the British army. Simms (History of International Relations/Peterhouse Coll., Univ. of Oxford; Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, from 1453 to the Present, 2013, etc.) begins in 1803 when Napoleon annexed the German principality of Hanover and dissolved its army. Following these events, many soldiers fled to Britain, where they and other expatriates were numerous enough to form the King's German Legion, which fought in Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain before its supreme test in Belgium on June 18, 1815. As the author writes, they "were motivated by a combination of ideological opposition to Napoleonic tyranny, dynastic loyalty to the King of England, German patriotism, regimental camaraderie, personal bonds of friendship and professional ethos." The Duke of Wellington placed most of his army behind a ridge and ordered a battalion of the legion 400 meters ahead to occupy the house, but he sent the legion's engineers elsewhere, making extensive fortification impossible. Worse, he made no provisions for resupplying ammunition beyond the standard issue of 60 rounds. At 1 p.m., the French attacked, surrounding the house. Beaten back, they attacked again and again, setting it on fire but not capturing it until after 6 p.m., when the surviving defenders retreated for lack of ammunition. This allowed Napoleon to launch the Imperial Guards at Wellington's lines, which were beaten back as the Prussian army arrived to turn it into a rout. Since literacy was common even among enlisted men, Simms takes advantage of abundant letters and memoirs to deliver an engrossing, often gruesome nuts-and-bolts description of that afternoon.
The Battle of Waterloo is an iconic event that stands out as one of the most pivotal, bloodiest, and most celebrated military contests of the nineteenth century. With typical British confidence and precision, Michael Page narrates this detailed tribute to the Second Light Battalion, King’s (the King of England) German Legion, which stood at the crossroads of Haye Sainte on June 18, 1815, defending a small farmhouse against wave after wave of Napoleon’s best soldiers long enough to tip the tide of battle to the side of the allies. Page delivers the many German surnames and phrases sprinkled throughout the text with exacting precision, which only seems right because without those 400 brave German riflemen it’s a distinct possibility that many English might have ended up speaking French (again). B.P. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
