Today is June 18th, and for those of you who are historically-minded, it's the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, in which the resurgent French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by English and Prussian forces under the respective commands of the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal von Bluecher. Were it not for the outcome of this battle, I might be writing this blog in French.
I find military history to be fascinating, and the scope of my interest has been steadily moving backwards from my teenage interest in World War II, originally fueled by 1960's-vintage TV series like "Combat" and "The Gallant Men." The Second World War grew out of the First World War, which built on the earlier Balkans wars and the Franco-Prussian War, which led back to ... well ... the Napoleonic Wars.
I just finished reading a fascinating new book by Bernard Cornwell - Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles.
Mr Cornwell has written a very detailed, but very readable and exciting history of the three battles of the Waterloo campaign - Ligny, Quatre Bras, and Waterloo, bringing the noise, smell, and fury of the battle to life as perhaps no other current author can. He draws on previous historical research and writings, and on primary sources such as diaries and letters to present the battle from perspectives ranging from those of Napoleon, Bluecher, and the Duke of Wellington to those of private soldiers of the three competing armies (French, Prussian, and English). After reading this book, you'll be glad you weren't there.
The 200th anniversary of Waterloo also led to a recent flap between the Belgian and French governments when Belgium announced plans to issue a 2.5 Euro coin commemorating the battle.
And if you are not especially interested in European military history, you can still celebrate the legacy of Waterloo in this song by the Swedish quartet Abba ...
Have a good day. Come back tomorrow, when we'll reveal the Left Cheek Ass Clown for the month of June. More thoughts then.
Bilbo
* Sharpe was played by actor Sean Bean in the BBC series based on the Cornwell stories. Mr Bean also played the character of Eddard Stark in the HBO series "Game of Thrones," and of Boromir in "The Lord of the Rings."
6 comments:
Thanks for the reading suggestion. I like that sort of book.
I'm taking a break before reading August, 1916 by Solzhenitsyn.
I never heard that ABBA song before. To me, ABBA is a guilty pleasure.
Love ABBA, so thanks for sharing this with us this morning. I'm not so interested in history that far back, but found that traveling in Europe I was more intrigued. Glad you enjoyed it!
The June issue of Smithsonian had an excellent article about Waterloo in it: "Why We'd Be Better Off if Napoleon Never Lost at Waterloo"
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/we-better-off-napoleon-never-lost-waterloo-180955298/
The French tend to be sore losers. They've had practice at it!
Love ABBA and that song. 'Combat' was on one of the secondary broadcast channels late night here for awhile. It was strange watching an old show that only had 5 minutes instead of 20 minutes of commercials in it.
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