Waterloo cover art

Waterloo

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Waterloo

By: Tim Clayton
Narrated by: Phillip Franks
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The bloodbath at Waterloo ended a war that had engulfed the world for over 20 years. It also finished the career of the charismatic Napoleon Bonaparte. It ensured the final liberation of Germany and the restoration of the old European monarchies, and it represented one of very few defeats for the glorious French army, most of whose soldiers remained devoted to their Emperor until the very end.

Extraordinary though it may seem, much about the Battle of Waterloo has remained uncertain, with many major features of the campaign hotly debated. Most histories have depended heavily on the evidence of British officers that were gathered about 20 years after the battle. But the recent publication of an abundance of fresh firsthand accounts from soldiers of all the participating armies has illuminated important episodes and enabled radical reappraisal of the course of the campaign. What emerges is a darker, muddier story, no longer biased by notions of regimental honour, but a tapestry of irony, accident, courage, horror, and human frailty.

An epic pause resister, rich in dramatic human detail and grounded in first-class scholarly research, Waterloo is the real inside story of the greatest land battle in British history, the defining showdown of the age of muskets, bayonets, cavalry, and cannon.

©2014 Tim Clayton (P)2014 Audible Studios
20th Century Europe Military Napoleon Bonaparte France War Thought-Provoking Imperialism
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Trafalgar cover art
Waterloo: The Campaign of 1815 cover art
Rorke's Drift cover art
Bloody Spring cover art
All the King's Men cover art
The Boer War cover art
Admiral Collingwood: Nelson's Own Hero cover art
Fields of Blood cover art
Shiloh cover art
Kennesaw Mountain cover art
Marlborough: His Life and Times cover art
The Battle of Peach Tree Creek cover art
Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle cover art
A War of Empires cover art
The Napoleonic Wars cover art
The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861 (Campaigns and Commanders Series) cover art

What listeners say about Waterloo

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    371
  • 4 Stars
    116
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    343
  • 4 Stars
    99
  • 3 Stars
    27
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    347
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

The details of events the sequence of the action is outstanding. You're never presented with what if's but the real time options that were available to the protagonists. This way your not left with "if only"

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Great History

This is an excellent book, Waterloo bought to life, if you like history you'll love this, I especially like the fact that this history covers the four days of battle, not just the one in most other histories. Recommended!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

"Embedded" view of Quatre-Bras, Ligny and Waterloo

Very impressed by the research and assembly of the material, which flows beautifully to allow one to really understand the context and significance of this battle to European and world history, whilst also giving us exciting "on the ground- you are there" reportage and a feeling of peering over the participants shoulders and through the gun smoke (you can taste it too!).....gasp for breath....

An exemplary reading by Philip Franks (Who is now on my list of preferred narrators) As with all audiobooks of this sort, you'll need to avail yourself of maps, but the internet abounds with them.

Very satisfied with this purchase(and I'm only half way through listening)
Highly Recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant!

A tour de force of a book that moves effortlessly from the big picture to the muck and bullets of the fighting. Wonderfully researched, the narrative holds you throughout, giving you a 365degree view of events. I have had an interest in the Napoleonic period since a schoolboy and have heard no better account of Waterloo than this one. Thank you Tim Clayton!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

really enjoyed this fascinating in depth and well balanced account of a crucial campaign and battle. Learned a lot too

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent!

A very detailed and enjoyable audiobook, superbly read. I found it fascinating and informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning study of La Belle Aliance

This is the finest historical production of the fall of the Emperor Napoleon

I really felt like I finally understood what it was really like to be a soldier of the Napoleonic era.

A giant horrific bloody game of skittles
The author generously set the scene and coloured his canvas to perfection

Thank you Mr Clayton I have studied this era for 35 years and your Audiobook and the superb narration
is without doubt my favourite .

I would recommend this audiobook for the incredible amount of well sourced fascinating historical information simply breathtaking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Waterloo: clarified at last. Recommend to all.

A detailed and fascinating account of a world famous battle. Great research is patent and the description of events and personal experiences holds your attention in the midst of names and figures. I found the explanation of the different military terms very helpful. The evaluation of mistakes and luck in the outcome of the battle is forthright and shows how minor elements may well have decided the outcome.
It is well read by Phillip Franks; good speed, clear voice and proper inflection contribute to the drama of the pages.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing book, missing certain features.

Good narration, but doesn't translate French quotes to English - Missing like maps, naturally, which is quite annoying as I'd like to know the English versions of the quotes. The rest, the stories, accounts and details are all unbeleivably well researched. Best book about Waterloo I've ever heard.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant narration and historic detail

A harrowing account of the slaughter which took place at Waterloo. The sole aim was to snuff out any thoughts of revolution across Europe once and for all. Although he returned the majority, I was shocked just how much money Wellington received as a reward, well over 6 million pounds in today’s money. The private soldier (who suffered the most) received an equivalent of less than £250 today! Like other conflicts, the poor and unwanted do the fighting to keep the few in the lifestyle they feel entitled to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!