The Story Of The Soldiers Of Waterloo.
This is a book from my library. Basically the book relates the battle of Waterloo with extracts from soldiers letters, diaries and journals used to illustrate each element of the fighting from the soldiers perspective.
Those familiar with Mercer's Journal will see a number of passages from his book among others. However the bulk of the references are made from unpublished letters or diaries. As the writer explains, by the time of Waterloo there were a significantly larger number of literate common soldiers than only 20 years earlier. As a result there are vast numbers of soldiers letters from this period as yet unpublished but often quoted from here for the first time.
The resulting book gives a fresh view of the battle and certainly conveys what it was like to actually participate. Some of the descriptions are certainly not for the faint hearted but of course "tell it like it was".
A good read and recommended if you want a "down in the mud" description of this historic battle.
Always interesting to hear actual reports, especially from those not in command.
ReplyDeleteHi...Yes indeed. The majority of the references are in fact from the rank and file which gives the whole book added relevance. Regards
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