The Waterloo Companion: The Complete Guide to History's Most Famous Land Battle

Rating:
Summary: A massive book
Review: A large pictorial book not suitable for reading but for skimming thru on the Waterloo facts. Quite well-presented, it has its fair share of editorial typos. I like the well-presented maps.

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction to Waterloo
Review: I give this book 5 stars because of it's overall unique contribution to the battle as an "all in one" volume for those who do not own (or wish to own) any of the available books on the army's, the weapons, and soldiers, and also because it's treatment of the main phases of the battle in color coded maps is essentially unbeatable. It also contains the mother of all Orders of Battle for the Waterloo Campaign. That being said the narrative of the battle is NOT for the seriously interested as it only briefly covers the highpoints of the battle very near the end of the book, and much of that in anecdotal format. The problem with Adkin's Waterloo is it's inherent omissions give the false impression that the battle was not the "damned near-run affair" that it actually was. This is found in the author's faulty statement that the height of D'Erlon's assault was the closest Napoleon ever came to winning the battle. Yet the reader is dismayed to find that excepting a goodly amount of schematic detail on the assaults against La Haye Sainte, the whole remainder of the battle (hours worth) against Wellington's lines after Ney's cavaly charge all the way to the assault by the Old and Middle Guard is all but completely omitted. The Prussian contribution, though respected, is treated as a separate affair altogether. The reader also picks up a pro-anglo, pro-Cops-of-the-World slant in the narrative too probably in part because practically all of the author's sources came from previously published works in English, and most of his sources for the stories of the battle are from the English soldiers who fought in it. Some of the personal stories quoted sound rediculous, no doubt exaggerated over the years.

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction to Waterloo
Review: I give this book 5 stars because of it's overall unique contribution to the battle as an "all in one" volume for those who do not own (or wish to own) any of the available books on the army's, the weapons, and soldiers, and also because it's treatment of the main phases of the battle in color coded maps is essentially unbeatable. It also contains the mother of all Orders of Battle for the Waterloo Campaign. That being said the narrative of the battle is NOT for the seriously interested as it only briefly covers the highpoints of the battle very near the end of the book, and much of that in anecdotal format. The problem with Adkin's Waterloo is it's inherent omissions give the false impression that the battle was not the "damned near-run affair" that it actually was. This is found in the author's faulty statement that the height of D'Erlon's assault was the closest Napoleon ever came to winning the battle. Yet the reader is dismayed to find that excepting a goodly amount of schematic detail on the assaults against La Haye Sainte, the whole remainder of the battle (hours worth) against Wellington's lines after Ney's cavaly charge all the way to the assault by the Old and Middle Guard is all but completely omitted. The Prussian contribution, though respected, is treated as a separate affair altogether. The reader also picks up a pro-anglo, pro-Cops-of-the-World slant in the narrative too probably in part because practically all of the author's sources came from previously published works in English, and most of his sources for the stories of the battle are from the English soldiers who fought in it. Some of the personal stories quoted sound rediculous, no doubt exaggerated over the years.

Rating:
Summary: A companion not a battle guide
Review: If you think you will be gtting a blow by blow description of the battle you will be disapointed. As the book itself states this is not a battle history, but a description of everything else . It includes OOB, uniforms descriptions of deployments pictures of the battle field as it is now , looks at many of the debates of the time eg curassier good or bad. If you wanted the background to the men, tactics and all the interesting little bits of info this is the book for you. Both a coffe table book (its biga and its got pictures and short features)., it is also a book for the serious enthusiast. Use the look inside feature here at Amazon to see the contents and index pages they should let you know if this is the book you want

Rating:
Summary: Overwhelming... but in a good way!
Review: My interest in military history has primarily been reserved for The American Civil War. However, I always harbored an underlying interest in The Napoleonic wars (especially after seeing the movie "Waterloo" starring Rod Stieger when I was a youngster)...

So, a while back, I finally decided to delve further into this realm of military history. What better battle to kick off my new interest than the Battle of Waterloo. When I found this book on Amazon.com, it appeared as if I had found what I had been looking for in "The Waterloo Companion: The Complete Guide to History's Most Famous Battle"...

... and I had - and THEN some! There is a LOT of information between the covers of this book! But, the author does a good job at presenting it all in as organized a way as I could have hoped for. The book is divided into sections like "the battlefield", "the infantry", "the cavalry", "the artillery", etc... Even a section of myths surrounding the battle, and the dispelling of these myths.

This book is like a text/reference book. It's not the kind of book you will sit back and relax with! It is far too text-heavy for that. However, the text is broken up with many blurbs and vignettes, set off from the rest of the text in separate boxes. For these, I am grateful to the author! I have found myself going directly to THESE bits more than the main body text when I pick the book up.

The author also does a decent job with timelines via maps, etc. Also, diagrams on how squares were formed, how cavalry would attack squares, and the best way to fire artillery at an opponet of the Napoleonic era, etc., etc... help one to better understand key tactits of Napoleonic warfare like those that were employed at Waterloo.

Now, the reason why I gave this book 4 stars and not five (I'd have given it 4.5 if I could have) is striclty a personal one: I love seeing art inside of books. Particularly military books. There are so many great works of art done on the battles of Waterloo, Quatre Bras, etc... But, I was left high and dry upon opening the book. The cover image of the Currasiers assaulting the Highlander squares, by Felix Phillapateux, sucked me into the book in the first place. I thought there'd be more of these images within... paintings by Thomas Gibb and Lady Butler - even more contemporary artists like Keith Rocco (who has done some great peices on Waterloo), etc... would have rounded out this book for me and lead me to give it five solid stars. There are several color "plates" of soldiers in their uniforms included. But, not nearly enough to wet my pallett.

Over all, a great work! Any and every person with an interest in The Battle of Waterloo should have this in their bookcase!

Rating:
Summary: A massive book
Review: Napoleonic land warfare is not a particularly strong interest of mine except as it pertains to the evolution of tactics used half a century later during the American Civil War. However, once in a while something on the subject will catch my eye. And extraordinarily eye-catching is Mark Adkin's "The Waterloo Companion" - over 400 large-format pages on glossy paper, a volume crammed with highly informative text and informative illustrations. Too often, the illustrations in such over-sized volumes as this seem to exist for no other purpose than to fill up space and look pretty. But this is not the case in "The Waterloo Companion." There are dozens of exquisite small-scale topographical maps depicting various critical moments of the battle. Photographs either focus in upon key terrain features or, in the case of panoramic images, are overlaid with markings to show the position and movements of troops during the battle. The course and form of the famous struggle are made very clear through such devices. Rather than employing a standard narrative structure, Adkin uses a more nearly encyclopedic approach. There are biographical essays on numerous general officers on both sides (or all three sides, if the Prussians are counted separately). Terrain features are individually discussed. Tactical methods and weapons are analyzed in depth. Army organization is examined. The battles for such key locations as La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont are presented in great detail, with multiple maps and photographs showing each phase of fighting. Orders of battle are given in a readily comprehended fashion, and the history and experiences of the various major subordinate units in all three armies are described. Physically, this is an extremely handsome volume. In terms of information presented, it is a treasure trove. For a military history buff, this is a book to provide many hours of happy browsing.

Rating:
Summary: A top notch guide to the battle of Waterloo
Review: Napoleonic land warfare is not a particularly strong interest of mine except as it pertains to the evolution of tactics used half a century later during the American Civil War. However, once in a while something on the subject will catch my eye. And extraordinarily eye-catching is Mark Adkin's "The Waterloo Companion" - over 400 large-format pages on glossy paper, a volume crammed with highly informative text and informative illustrations. Too often, the illustrations in such over-sized volumes as this seem to exist for no other purpose than to fill up space and look pretty. But this is not the case in "The Waterloo Companion." There are dozens of exquisite small-scale topographical maps depicting various critical moments of the battle. Photographs either focus in upon key terrain features or, in the case of panoramic images, are overlaid with markings to show the position and movements of troops during the battle. The course and form of the famous struggle are made very clear through such devices. Rather than employing a standard narrative structure, Adkin uses a more nearly encyclopedic approach. There are biographical essays on numerous general officers on both sides (or all three sides, if the Prussians are counted separately). Terrain features are individually discussed. Tactical methods and weapons are analyzed in depth. Army organization is examined. The battles for such key locations as La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont are presented in great detail, with multiple maps and photographs showing each phase of fighting. Orders of battle are given in a readily comprehended fashion, and the history and experiences of the various major subordinate units in all three armies are described. Physically, this is an extremely handsome volume. In terms of information presented, it is a treasure trove. For a military history buff, this is a book to provide many hours of happy browsing.

Rating:
Summary: Not just another Waterloo book
Review: This book is not just another book on the Waterloo campaign. As the author states this book is not meant as a blow by blow account of the action but rather a look at different aspects of the battle including: The campaign, Orders of Battle, Command & Control, the battlefield, the various arms of the armies, and of course the main highlights of the battle. The last section takes an impartial look at the predominate myths and controversies surrounding the battle of Waterloo and the author comes up with his own conclusions in regards to them.

The book is massive (432pages) and makes superb use of colourful maps and photographs of the battlefield which explain the battle situation at key times, the deployment and various formations of forces.

The book also provides additional curious information by the use of text boxes including some first account experiences of the battle.

All in all this is an absolutely superb book, well researched using various sources of information, beautifully presented and printed on high quality paper. I have found it hard to put down , as I keep poring over the maps and digesting all the wonderful information to found in this book. This is a must buy for anyone with an interest in the Waterloo campaign. Lets hope Mark Adkin will do the same with other Napoleonic battles.

Rating:
Summary: Finally
Review: This is the kind of history book I like to buy. No expense has been spared on this effort to present and also portray the battle of Waterloo. I sat with this book in a store for a few minutes and after reviewing it I raced to the counter with it, eager to add it to my Napoleonic collection. Objective (yes, even though it's about Waterloo) in-depth, and 'illuminating'. For example, the author has taken the effort to address many of the controversies surrounding this battle, and dissects them from both sides, and he lets YOU reach your own conclusion. Is this man a historian or what? Simply incredible. It is a very large and thick volume filled with charts, orders of battle, color photographs of the battlefield from nearly every direction, (with superimposed troop locations) and biographies of everyone from Napoleon down to individual soldiers. It serves as both a guide to the battle and also a great reference, teaching many things about the Napoleonic period itself. I find myself reading parts of it all the time. You will not need to buy any other book about Waterloo once you have this one. This is a work that will last indefinitely on any Napoleonic buff's shelf.