Waterloo

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Summary: British FEEL-GOOD book from Waterloo Industry
Review: "~British daydreaming + typically British blaming the foreigners for everything + typically British boasting."~ England? The amount of boasting in books like this one about Sharpe is unbelievable!

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Summary: Next to a battle lost, the worst thing is ...
Review: 'Victoire! Victoire! We have had a magnificent affair against Napoleon today ... it was my corps which principally gave battle and to which we owe the victory' - Prince William of Orange.

As an English person of impeccable PCness, I wouldn't like it to be thought that we blame foreigners for a d@!n thing. So ...

... at Waterloo, which was a famous French victory, Wellington's Anglo-Irish scum ran away while the KGL covered the retreat. The Iron Duke was suffering from gippy tummy or possibly piles. The Belgo-Dutch, on the other hand, stood and fought like heroes, and there was a flypast of pigs. Also, Sharpe is a fictional character, so I think we can all agree that he couldn't have shot the Prince of Orange or repulsed the Imperial Guard. Somebody did, though. Merde.

There, Anonymous Reader, will that do? The book tells a different story but it's a good read. Not the very best - for that you'll have to go to 'Sharpe's Gold' (not the TV travesty) or 'Sharpe's Regiment' - but if you like big battles, this is the big one, and nobody does it like Cornwell. Enjoy!

Rather churlishly Wellington chose not to call it the Battle of La Belle Alliance, although it couldn't have been won without Blucher. Not to mention the Prince of Orange.

P.S. Why did Boney surrender to the Royal Navy not the Prussian Army?

Rating:
Summary: worth a read as entertainment
Review: Assuming the historical facts as to which regiments did what to whom, I suppose this novel deals relatively fairly with the waterloo campaign. Somehow, however, it seems incredible to me that Richard Sharpe happened to be at every dramatic episode, from bringing the crucial message to the Bruxelles ball to charging the Guard in the end and always turning the tide at crucial moments. Seeing that Sharpe also instigated the crucial breakthrough at Vitoria, I can't wait to find out that he was also at Borodino, Leipzig and probably any french defeat you care to mention. Is he going to poison the exile at St Helena? Does Napoleon know Sharpe beat him almost singlehandedly, despite the incompetent british officers, cowardly spaniards and the perfidious prussians? Some limits to superheroes make them more believable. Some kryptonite to the french bulets, please????

Rating:
Summary: What a Great Story!
Review: Bernard Cornwell's "Waterloo, Sharpe's Final Adventure" is fast paced fun and an action packed thriller. Here Cornwell tells the story of Waterloo; the unbelievable hubris of the commanders (both sides), the complete waste of human life and especially the fear of the average soldiers. Cornwell paints a picture of France and anti-French forces coming together to do battle, somewhat like two huge forces on a collision course. The point of view is more from the average soldier and not from the generals, so don't count on a lot of quotes from Napoleon or Wellington.

This time Sharpe is a lieutenant-colonel in the Belgian Light Dragoons under the command of the 23 year old Belgian Prince of Orange. Sharpe's primary function is to provide military advice to the youthful prince and try to keep himself from killing the idiotic monarch. Really he is there to collect soldier pay. Along the way Sharpe encounters a wife's betrayal, monumental military bumbling, senseless slaughter, and of course battle. For it wouldn't really be a Sharpe story without battle.

However, (and I cannot put my finger on it) "Waterloo" is written differently from Sharpe's other stories. Perhaps the characters are more mature or maybe it is the fact that half of the story is about the actual battle. Cornwell's Sharpe's books usually devote a chapter to the battle and not half a book. But lets face it the battle is one of the biggest in history.

What makes Sharpe stories so great is the writing, Cornwell knows how to convey a story and keep it interesting. I recommend this book to military history buffs, arm-chair generals, and any one else who enjoys a story told well.

Rating:
Summary: Cornwell At His Best
Review: For anyone interested in Napoleonic history Bernard Cornwell's 'Richard Sharpe' series will amaze and delight. 'Waterloo' is a wonderful tribute to the those who fought the famous battle and a thrilling adventure for Richard Sharpe. In 'Waterloo,' Sharpe fights not only the forces of Napoleon, but the young and inexperienced commander of the Dutch troops as well as his wife's cowardly lover. From the tense moments as French troops cross the border, to thrashing of the British at Quatre Bras, to the slaughter of Ney's cavalry on the British squares, to Wellington's near-run triumph, this is a magnificent blending of historical fact and captivating fiction. 'Waterloo' may be Cornwell's best.

Rating:
Summary: Five stars just isn't enough!
Review: For lovers of the Sharpe series Waterloo will provide you with both a triumphant and riveting ending, and a sad farewell. For lovers of Napoleonic history, Waterloo will take you beyond the tactics and strategy and let you feel the thunder of the cannons, smell the clouds of powder smoke, and hear the cries of the dying and wounded. Cornwell places you on the ridge overlooking the valley and lets you watch the battle unfold. The book is really the next best thing to a time machine.

Rating:
Summary: Intense detail, great plot, intense battle!
Review: I have read all of the Sharpe series but found this one to be the best. Cornwell's attention to detail leaves the reader with a real sense of what the battle was like. For those who enjoy a good story, I would recommend any of the Sharpe series but especially Waterloo!

Rating:
Summary: "Merde" book. I am dissapointed.
Review: I think I have wasted my money. The number of errors is quite impressive, even as for a novel. You know already on the start who is loved and who is not, who belongs to the cute guys and who are the ugly boys.

Sharpe himself is a cartoonish hero. One against ten, He Who Never Is Defeated, sort of a childish character.

I am dissapointed.

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Summary: Yes, but who won?
Review: I was dining a few nights ago with - oddly enough - a German,an Englishman, and a Frenchman.

The topic came around to Waterloo. The Frenchman told the table that Napoleon didn't lose. He made a strategic defeat, and anyway it was the Prussians who won the battle. The German said the Prussians won the battle, and the French were beaten spitless. The Englishman said that Wellington and his army of scum won the battle, that Napoleon ran like a rabbit, and the Prussians arrived too late to do anybody any good. Before sabres were drawn, I poured another port and laid out an excellent Blue Vein cheese from New Zealand's Kapiti Coast.

No matter what Cornwell did with this Sharpe story, he was going to be in trouble. I loved the book. Great battle! It's hardly a Sharpe book at all: Sharpe's merely the device Cornwell uses to draw the battle together for the reader.

But Cornwell was always going to cop it in the neck from the Dutch (What? The Dutch run? Never! ) He was always going to be mocked by the Germans (Loiter on the way to a battle? Nein! ). The French have never believed they lost the battle anyway, so Cornwell's version would have to wrong, wrong, wrong.

The book's an entertainment, so let's not get our knickers in a twist about "the facts". It's Cornwell's view of the battle - accept that. And when you come to accept it as an entertainment, you'll enjoy it. This is battle on a huge scale - the largest number of men ever committed to battle at the time. And it's described expertly, with a feel for the blood, terror, glory, and unthinking heroism of the day.

Deeply satisfying, dramatic, gory - with a neat wrap-up for Sharpe's adulterous [...] ex. What more could you want for a Sunday afternoon?

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but a little far-fetched
Review: If you want an accurate and beleivable description of the Hundred Days Campaign, you should probably look elsewhere. However, if you want to just turn off your brain, check reality at the door and just be entertained then this book should do the trick. It is standard Cornwell, full of visual and emotional drama, but a bit far fetched. Although I was entertained, I am troubled by some of Cornwell's claims and accusations about how the battle was conducted. Please do not mistake this book as history, and accept it for what it is, a good fictional novel.