June 1815 : The Fall of an Empire – Ligny, Quatre-Bras, Wavre, Waterloo

In this bilingual edition, (translated into French by Marc Fasol), Alasdair White tells the story of the events leading to Napoleon's decision to invade Belgium and how the allies responded. Situating the battle of Waterloo in their historical context, the author looks at Napoleon's personal failures and significant errors of judgement, and discusses the issues facing the British, Dutch, Belgian, German, and Prussian forces that opposed him, at a time of poor communications, limited military intelligence and complicated politics. The narrative is richly illustrated by atmospheric photographs by Marc Fasol, taken during re-enactments, showing what life was like at the time, as well as maps. The book is organised into six chapters: Opening Moves; The strategy of the Central Position; Let Battle Commence; 17 June 1815, Bloodied but unbowed; 18 June 1815 the Ultimate defeat; A Last French Victory.