“Why do we need another book about Waterloo? Good question. There are plenty of reports about Waterloo, and it is probably one of the most studied and well-documented battles in history. By the end of that terrible June day in 1815, each of the participants in the massacre knew that he had experienced something significant, so that hundreds of memoirs and letters appeared telling about what happened... Waterloo was the decisive event of the early 19th century, and since then many men and women have tried to piece together a single story about him... To those who were there, the picture of the battle did not seem clear or simple, and this is one of the reasons for writing this book - to try to imagine how the events were seen by a person who found himself on the battlefield that day" (Bernard Cornwell) An unprecedented study of Napoleon's last major battle, going back to the events when the French Emperor took steps in February 1815 to regain power lost through military defeat, abdication and exile, and went on the offensive in June. On June 15, the French crossed the Sambre River at Charleroi, finding themselves between the British forces of the Duke of Wellington in the west and the Prussian forces of Field Marshal Gebhard Blücher in the east. The author describes in detail the course of the battles of Cartre Bras and Ligny on June 16, the preparations for the decisive clash on June 17, and finally - almost hourly - the Battle of Waterloo that took place the next day. Taking a detailed look at the actions of the armies, Cornwell analyzes the results and political consequences of the battle, tallies the losses and answers many difficult questions. The publication is equipped with maps illustrating the advance of troops and the course of battles, as well as inserts with 48 images, some of which are recognized masterpieces of battle painting. The publishing layout of the book is saved in PDF A4 format.