We received the following news release from Greenhill Books--RL..

Greenhill Books, London are pleased to announce the publication in the Napoleonic Library of:-

WATERLOO LECTURES by Colonel Charles Chesney with a new introduction by Peter Hofschroer.

Charles Chesney's WATERLOO LECTURES is one of the most outstanding of the many works written on the great battle of 1815, but has been out of print for many years and until now has been inaccesible for modern Napoleonic enthusiasts. Colonel Chesney brilliantly realised his aim of presenting and analysing all the available facts in an impartial and accurate way, at a time when other historians were more concerned with painting the picture most flattering to national pride.

Colonel Chesney consulted English, German, Belgian and French sources on the battle, and brought a logical and objective mind to bear on them. WATERLOO LECTURES was quickly translated into German and French, and approved by such renowned soldiers as Moltke the Elder. A number of German and French authorities subsequently offered further evidence that Chesney was able to include in the later English editions that were published. The edition now being made available is the last, best and most complete.

Colonel Chesney's standards for judging the evidence were so scrupulous, and his arguments so clear and precise, that WATERLOO LECTURES remains one of the great classics on the subject.

Introducing WATERLOO LECTURES

Peter Hofschroer writes:-

'The publication of Waterloo literature seems to be a perennial occupation in the English-speaking world, producing a flood of literature which has not abated since those dramatic events of June 1815. However, of this great mountain of books perhaps only two works really stand out, namely those by Siborne and Chesney. Unfounded criticism of the former has appeared recently, but in fact Siborne consulted every available Allied authority on the campaign, sought personal statements from many of the leading participants, and thus made every attempt to present the facts in his narrative.

Chesney, first writing two decades after Siborne, was praised for the impartiality of his WATERLOO LECTURES, a concise and most informative analysis of the campaign. As 'my country right or wrong' historians have dominated this particular aspect of European history, any attempt to establish the facts and present an objective analysis of them was indeed remarkable. These two works thus complement each other, and, at a time when most Europeans are endeavouring to put the national rivalries of the previous century or so behind them, this long overdue reprint of Chesney's work is to be welcomed.

While Siborne's great classic has hardly ever been out of print since its first publication, the most recent edition of Chesney to date was that published in 1907.

Ninety years later, once more this great work is at last available, to a reading public which it is to be hoped has learned enough from the tragic events of this century to seek an account of events unblemished by national prejudice.'

WATERLOO LECTURES is the 32nd volume in the Napoleonic Library. It will be available in October in Great Britain, and November in the United States. The book is in the standard Napoleonic Library format and livery, with 272 pages.

Published by:

Greenhill Books
Park House
1 Russell Gardens
London NW11 9NN
Tel: 0181-458 6314
Fax: 0181-905 5245
Price: £19.99

Distributed in the USA by:-

Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
USA Tel: 717 796 0411
Fax: 717 796 0412
Price: $40.00

Next Spring Greenhill will publish a new book on Waterloo which includes wholly new research from the Prussian archives, by Peter Hofschroer.

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