Greenhill Books sent the following press release--RL.

Greenhill circulated the review in THE SPECTATOR (London) of Peter Hofschroer's 1815: THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN: Wellington, his German Allies and the Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras.

Peter Hofschroer responded to the review but THE SPECTATOR have not published his letter. Here is what he said:

"May I take this opportunity of replying to Allan Mallinson's review of my recently published book 1815: THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN (Greenhill Books).

As Col. Mallinson considers my book 'offensive and deeply flawed', perhaps it would help to examine the reasons he gives for this. Firstly, he points out that I 'omit to mention' a work written by the person who uses the pen name 'David Hamilton-Williams'. The reason for my omission is quite simple - that person's work is questionable to say the least. Doubt has been thrown both on its content and its author's integrity in periodicals such as the 'Journal for Army Historical Research', Napoleon', First Empire' and 'Age of Napoleon', to name but a few. Hamilton-Williams' case against the Sibornes was answered and refuted, and indeed, Colonel John Elting went so far as to describe Hamilton-Williams' work as 'outright fraud'. His publisher, Arms & Armour Press, ceased publishing his books once this became public knowledge. Thus, I do not attach any credence to Hamilton-Williams' work.

Secondly, Col. Mallinson also seems surprised that I attach no weight to the works of Maurice and Robinson. Those writers based their defence of the Duke of Wellington on one document, the so-called 'De Lancey Disposition'. In this document, supposedly written at 7a.m. on 16 June 1815, a substantial part of Wellington's army is shown as 'marching to Quatre Bras'. However, the record shows that Wellington did not start to order any troops to Quatre Bras until after 11 a.m., and that the bulk of his army was not ordered on that point until after the start of the battle at 2.30 p.m. Clearly, De Lancey could not have written any 'disposition' showing troop movements to Quatre Bras at 7 a.m. as Wellington had yet to decide to move there. A disposition cannot be written before the commander decides where to move his army. Thus, I do not attach any weight to works that give credence to this questionable 'Disposition'.

Col. Mallinson continues by challenging the accuracy of my historical research. Let us take one example, my calculations of the speeds at which mounted couriers moved. He asks: 'Why should messages to Zieten's own commander-in-chief, along an established and shorter Prussian relay-route, travel at a significantly slower speed?' The answer is quite simple. The road taken by the courier to Wellington in Brussels was paved along its entire length, whereas the road to Namur was not. Thus, the courier to Wellington could ride faster. Reference to a contemporaneous map, such as that by Ferrari, clearly shows this. This map has been reprinted and is widely available, particularly in the Waterloo Visitors Centre. Thus, my work is based on solid historical fact.

So Col. Mallinson's complaint seems to be that I do not base my work on discredited books or arguments that conflict with the record and incorrect information. He is entitled to regard this as 'offensive and deeply flawed', however, I beg to differ.."

1815: THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN: Wellington, his German Allies and the Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras is published by Greenhill Books, London. (U.S. distribution: Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, Pa.)

Original Greenhill Press Release of Col. Mallinson

GREENHILL BOOKS
Park House
1 Russell Gardens
London NW11 9NN
Tel: 0181 458 6314
Fax: 0181 905 5245
E-mail: LionelLeventhal@compuserve.com

U.S. distribution ($69.95):

Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
GREENHILL NAPOLEONIC WARS BOOK NEWS IS INFORMATION FROM GREENHILL BOOKS, LONDON (LionelLeventhal@compuserve.com)

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