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Rating: 
Summary: Schom succinctly portrays the notables of Napoleonic France.
Review: I attacked One Hundred Days like Wellington attacked the French. Unlike a biography I read of Boney years ago, Schom marvelously and succinctly described the background and characters of a constellation of lesser notables who surrounded the Emperor. In doing so he made understandable the mood of France as Napoleon made his spectacular come back attempt before bowing out of European history. This book filled an enormous gap in my understanding of France as a European power and as a nation at the beginning of the 19th century. My daughter could hardly have made a better choice of gifts for my birthday.
Rating:
Summary: Schom succinctly portrays the notables of Napoleonic France.
Review: I attacked One Hundred Days like Wellington attacked the French. Unlike a biography I read of Boney years ago, Schom marvelously and succinctly described the background and characters of a constellation of lesser notables who surrounded the Emperor. In doing so he made understandable the mood of France as Napoleon made his spectacular come back attempt before bowing out of European history. This book filled an enormous gap in my understanding of France as a European power and as a nation at the beginning of the 19th century. My daughter could hardly have made a better choice of gifts for my birthday.
Rating: 
Summary: Napoleon hater go at it again
Review: I found this book to be very readable and once again, I also found it to be another one of Alan Schom's anti-Napoleon treatment. I am bit amazed that someone of Mr. Schom's talent as a writer and historian would be wasted on such bias effort. I would like to ask Mr. Schom if Napoleon have done anything good or decent in his life since he really like to paint this French Emperor and one of history's greatest military commanders as little better then petty dictator with delusion of grandeur with a Hitler complex.
Mr. Schom would probably find a greater acceptence among Napoleonic readers if he would be more fair in his assessments of the facts and characters. When you are too bias against your subject, then its pretty clear to any reader that you got a grudge against it.
The book overall, doesn't add anything new to anyone who is well read on the subject of Waterloo campaign. For experience readers, this book will end up in your local used book store. For casual readers, there are many anti-Napoleonic traps that author insert to make claims that Napoleon was nothing more then an early 19th century misanthrope.
PS: I believed HMS Bellerophon was a ship of a line, not a frigate.
Rating:
Summary: Good Intro to the Waterloo Campaign
Review: If you do not know much about Napoleon, esp. the Waterloo campaign, this is a great book for its simplicity in the events leading up to (and including) the battle of Waterloo.
Rating:
Summary: Good Intro to the Waterloo Campaign
Review: Schom is no great fan of Napolean, as his recent biography of the little Corsican demonstrates. However, I thought in reading this book that he provided a fairly even-handed, readable description of a fascinating period in European history. Most readers are familiar with the basic facts: In 1815, the deposed Napolean Bonaparte escaped from his island exile of Elba, and set sail for the shores of his beloved France. The king sent the army to recapture him, but upon encountering their former leader the troops rallied to his cause, and he ultimately marched into Belgium as the rest of Europe looked on in horror at this menace whom they thought was out of their hair forever. An alliance of troops, under the command of Lord Wellington, met up with Napolean on the great battlefield of Waterloo, leading to Bonaparte's final great defeat.This book provides a very readable account of these 4 months, and effectively demonstrated how close Napolean actually was to pulling off one more great victory. He points out the damaging mistakes by Napolean's inferior generals, leading to his flank being disrupted by General Blucher at a crucial point in the battle. We all know how the story ends, and yet the story was oddly suspenseful in Schom's hands nonetheless. He also paints a very vivid, sometimes unflattering portrait of Napolean, who was not the same man who boldly grasped the crown from the Pope in Notre Dame and proclaimed himself Emperor over 10 years earlier. Napolean was physically weaker, had a slight drool, and lacked the dynamic force of his younger days during the final 100 day campaign. All in all, while Schom's critical attitude towards Bonaparte has sometimes been open to attack, I thought this was a very entertaining historical narrative for the casual history buff like myself.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Page-Turner
Review: Schom is no great fan of Napolean, as his recent biography of the little Corsican demonstrates. However, I thought in reading this book that he provided a fairly even-handed, readable description of a fascinating period in European history. Most readers are familiar with the basic facts: In 1815, the deposed Napolean Bonaparte escaped from his island exile of Elba, and set sail for the shores of his beloved France. The king sent the army to recapture him, but upon encountering their former leader the troops rallied to his cause, and he ultimately marched into Belgium as the rest of Europe looked on in horror at this menace whom they thought was out of their hair forever. An alliance of troops, under the command of Lord Wellington, met up with Napolean on the great battlefield of Waterloo, leading to Bonaparte's final great defeat. This book provides a very readable account of these 4 months, and effectively demonstrated how close Napolean actually was to pulling off one more great victory. He points out the damaging mistakes by Napolean's inferior generals, leading to his flank being disrupted by General Blucher at a crucial point in the battle. We all know how the story ends, and yet the story was oddly suspenseful in Schom's hands nonetheless. He also paints a very vivid, sometimes unflattering portrait of Napolean, who was not the same man who boldly grasped the crown from the Pope in Notre Dame and proclaimed himself Emperor over 10 years earlier. Napolean was physically weaker, had a slight drool, and lacked the dynamic force of his younger days during the final 100 day campaign. All in all, while Schom's critical attitude towards Bonaparte has sometimes been open to attack, I thought this was a very entertaining historical narrative for the casual history buff like myself.
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