Waterloo BAttlefield Guide - david buttery
The defeat of Napoleon's French army by the combined forces of Wellington and Blucher at Waterloo on 18 June 1815 was a turning point in world history. This was the climax of the Napoleonic Wars, and the outcome had a major influence on the shape of Europe for the next century and beyond. The battle was a milestone, and it cannot be properly understood without a detailed, on-the-ground study of the landscape in which it was fought - and that is the purpose of David Buttery's new battlefield guide. In vivid detail, using eyewitness accounts and an intimate knowledge of the terrain, he reconstructs Waterloo and he takes the reader - and the visitor - across the battleground as it is today. He focuses on the pivotal episodes in the fighting - the day-long struggle for the chateau at Hougoumont, the massive French infantry assaults, repeated cavalry charges, the fall of La Haye Sainte, the violent clashes in the village of Plancenoit, the repulse of the Imperial Guard and rout of the French army. This thoroughgoing, lucid, easy-to-follow guide will be a fascinating introduction for anyone who seeks to understand what happened on that momentous day, and it will be an essential companion for anyone who explores the battlefield in Belgium.
Pen & Sword Military, May 2013
ISBN: 978-1781591215
Pages: 291, illustrations, maps, index.
"The best guide, by far, is David Buttery’s Waterloo, Battlefield Guide, which not only leads the visitor around the locations of the campaign, but tells the story of those four momentous days. The book is an essential companion for anyone visiting the battlefields of the campaign."
Bernard Cornwell
"In summary, congratulations to Mr Buttery and the publishers for producing such a fine book, in time for the bicentennial of the famous battle. It's a great introduction for the novice reader, but even the experienced `student' of Napoleonic history will find numerous gems of detail about which you were not aware or revel in the details that will aide studying the battle or planning a bicentennial game. The book is worth it alone for the photos of sections of the battlefields and points of interest and, of course, the fine maps!"
Avon Napoleonic Fellowship
Pen & Sword Military, May 2013
ISBN: 978-1781591215
Pages: 291, illustrations, maps, index.
"The best guide, by far, is David Buttery’s Waterloo, Battlefield Guide, which not only leads the visitor around the locations of the campaign, but tells the story of those four momentous days. The book is an essential companion for anyone visiting the battlefields of the campaign."
Bernard Cornwell
"In summary, congratulations to Mr Buttery and the publishers for producing such a fine book, in time for the bicentennial of the famous battle. It's a great introduction for the novice reader, but even the experienced `student' of Napoleonic history will find numerous gems of detail about which you were not aware or revel in the details that will aide studying the battle or planning a bicentennial game. The book is worth it alone for the photos of sections of the battlefields and points of interest and, of course, the fine maps!"
Avon Napoleonic Fellowship
Wellington against junot - david buttery
The first French invasion of Portugal in 1807 - which was commanded by General Jean-Andoche Junot, one of Napoleon's most experienced generals - was a key event in the long, brutal Peninsular War, and it was the first campaign fought in the Peninsula by Sir Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, yet it tends to be overshadowed by more famous episodes in the six-year conflict that followed. David Buttery, in this original and perceptive new study, sets the record straight. His tightly focused narrative covers the entire campaign in vivid detail - the rise of popular resistance to the French occupying forces, the outbreak of ruthless guerrilla warfare, the differences in the tactics of the opposing Allied and French armies, the contrasting personalities of Wellesley and Junot, the Allied victories at Roliça and Vimeiro, and the notorious Convention of Cintra which terminated the campaign, ruined the careers of two British generals and nearly wrecked that of Wellesley himself.
But the account also examines the wider implications of the invasion and liberation of Portugal - its impact on Napoleonic strategy and on the protracted struggle against the French across the Iberian Peninsula, and its contribution to the eventual defeat of Napoleon.
This title has also been translated into Portuguese and published as A Primeira Invasão de Portugal, 1807-1808 – Wellington contra Junot, by Texto.
Pen & Sword Military, May 2011
ISBN: 978-1848841420
Pages: 224, illustrations, maps, index.
A “good introduction to the first French invasion… A handy single volume to take on holiday to Portugal with you… [Mr Buttery] should be congratulated.”
Alan Rooney (Founder of The Cultural Experience Tours, and previous Managing Director of Holt’s Tours and Midas Tours)
"The book's descriptions of the important battles of Vimiero and Rolica are detailed enough to please military historians, but lively enough to interest lay readers too. They are enhanced by excellent maps.”
Leicestershire & Rutland Life
“A magnificent study of the French invasion of Portugal in 1807… Buttery has done us all proud… Wellington Against Junot is not only fascinating, it is a very good read… Buttery's prose explains complex situations simply and well and his battle descriptions are terrific… This is a must-have for anyone interested in the Peninsular War.”
Richard Moore (Editor, Napoleonic Guide)
But the account also examines the wider implications of the invasion and liberation of Portugal - its impact on Napoleonic strategy and on the protracted struggle against the French across the Iberian Peninsula, and its contribution to the eventual defeat of Napoleon.
This title has also been translated into Portuguese and published as A Primeira Invasão de Portugal, 1807-1808 – Wellington contra Junot, by Texto.
Pen & Sword Military, May 2011
ISBN: 978-1848841420
Pages: 224, illustrations, maps, index.
A “good introduction to the first French invasion… A handy single volume to take on holiday to Portugal with you… [Mr Buttery] should be congratulated.”
Alan Rooney (Founder of The Cultural Experience Tours, and previous Managing Director of Holt’s Tours and Midas Tours)
"The book's descriptions of the important battles of Vimiero and Rolica are detailed enough to please military historians, but lively enough to interest lay readers too. They are enhanced by excellent maps.”
Leicestershire & Rutland Life
“A magnificent study of the French invasion of Portugal in 1807… Buttery has done us all proud… Wellington Against Junot is not only fascinating, it is a very good read… Buttery's prose explains complex situations simply and well and his battle descriptions are terrific… This is a must-have for anyone interested in the Peninsular War.”
Richard Moore (Editor, Napoleonic Guide)
Wellington against massena - david buttery
Wellington's clash with Massena was one of the most remarkable contests between two commanders in the Peninsular War. These two formidable generals carried on a campaign of manoeuvre, battle and attrition across Spain and Portugal in 1810 and 1811 which had a decisive impact on the outcome of the war. Wellington's reputation was enhanced, Massena's was ruined. David Buttery's close analysis of this extraordinary encounter offers a penetrating insight into the personalities of these two outstanding soldiers. Using a variety of sources, in particular eyewitness accounts from both sides, he reassesses the famous confrontations at Ciudad Rodrigo, Almeida, Busaco, the lines of Torres Vedras and the final bitterly fought battle at Fuentes de O'oro. He sheds new light on this pivotal episode in the Napoleonic Wars and his account corrects the one-sided view of the campaign that has survived to the present day. In particular he reconsiders the true cost of the scorched earth policy that was employed against the French.
This title has also been translated into Portuguese and published as Wellington Contra Massena, by Gradiva.
Pen & Sword Military, April 2007
ISBN: 978-1844155545
Pages: 224, illustrations, maps, index.
“His analysis is both interesting and enjoyable, admirably punctuated with judiciously selected eye witness accounts....Thoroughly researched, easily read and very well referenced, it is a pleasure at second and even third acquaintance and a very worthwhile addition to any collection on the Great War with France 1795-1815.
Chapter 12 will be particularly useful to visitors who wish to follow the campaign in Portugal and Spain on the ground. I thoroughly recommend it. “
British Army Review
This title has also been translated into Portuguese and published as Wellington Contra Massena, by Gradiva.
Pen & Sword Military, April 2007
ISBN: 978-1844155545
Pages: 224, illustrations, maps, index.
“His analysis is both interesting and enjoyable, admirably punctuated with judiciously selected eye witness accounts....Thoroughly researched, easily read and very well referenced, it is a pleasure at second and even third acquaintance and a very worthwhile addition to any collection on the Great War with France 1795-1815.
Chapter 12 will be particularly useful to visitors who wish to follow the campaign in Portugal and Spain on the ground. I thoroughly recommend it. “
British Army Review