by John Codman Ropes. Reprinted by Worley Books. Price £ 19.50?

This reviewer's opinion of most works on the Waterloo Campaign are public. Indeed, rarely does any work on Napoleonic military history escape his critical view, However, there are three works published in the English language on this subject which he would not hesitate to recommend as the best starting-point on the subject. These are Siborne (hardly ever out of print), Chesney (when is somebody going to reprint him?) and Ropes (at last he has been reprinted!).

John Codman Ropes (with a name like that, it is unlikely that he was a European) was one of the few historians writing on this subject that was able to do so dispassionately. Writing towards the end of the nineteenth century when Europe was on a collision course, an American account of the events of 1815 in the Low Countries is more likely to be the most objective. Ropes' work cannot be accused of national bias. He was, after all, neither British, nor French, nor German. He list of sources used, English, French, German and Dutch, supports the impartiality of his work. Ropes follows the style of Chesney's earlier analysis of the campaign. That is, each chapter starts with an account of the events followed by a critical examination of it. Ropes explodes many legends for what they are.

Take, for instance the story that on the evening of 17th June, Wellington rode to Blucher at Wavre for a secret meeting. Ropes elicits the origins of this story as being one of those many accounts that 'reliable' and 'influential' people put into the mouth of the Duke and on which so many English language versions of the events of this campaign are based. Rightly, Ropes is reluctant to trust hearsay evidence. It is refreshing to read an account of this campaign where the author is at least attempting to be honest.

Although this account and analysis of the Campaign of 1815 is one of the better, that is not to say that it is without fault. One has to remember that its author did not have access to the European archives. Thus, he had to rely on published material. He conducted no original research, but depended on the accuracy of the work of others. His critical examinations are thus largely a contrasting of the views of other historians and not of the documented evidence. This leads him, for instance, to rejecting the view that Wellington mislead Blucher into fighting at Ligny on 16th June when there is as yet unpublished archive material which could well support that view.

In all, a worthy addition to any Napoleonic library. This work should be placed next to Siborne's on your shelf and far away from Becke's. Now the text volume has been reprinted, let us hope that Worley also reprint the atlas volume shortly.

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History of the Waterloo Campaign
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