Waterloo 1815 (1) ― Quatre Bras

To coincide with the 2015 bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo, Osprey publishes Waterloo 1815, a definitive three volume history of the historic battle. Based on new research drawn from unpublished first-hand accounts and illustrations, Waterloo 1815 provides a detailed resource for all aspects of the famous battle.

This first volume of the trilogy, Quatre Bras, focuses on the lead-up to Waterloo itself. Two days before the main battle, an initial 8,000 Allied troops faced the 48,000 men of the French Armee du Nord under Marshal Ney at the strategically vital crossroads of Quatre Bras. Having been tricked by Napolean who was trying to drive a wedge between the Prussians and the Anglo-allied army, Wellington concentrated his troops at Quatre Bras, hoping to link up with the Prussians. There Wellington just managed to hold off Ney's attacks. The battle ended in a tactical stalemate but, because he was unable to join with Blucher's Prussians, Wellington retreated back along the road to Brussels to new positions at a small Belgian village called Waterloo, and thus set the stage for one of the greatest battles of all time.

With detailed maps, illustrations and battlefield dispositions, Quatre Bras will lay the groundwork for any student of the Battle of Waterloo.

John Franklin is a professional military historian based in Switzerland who specialises in the Napoleonic period, and the Waterloo campaign in particular. A Fellow of the International Napoleonic Society (FINS), and a graduate of the University of Bern, he has been engaged in one of the most comprehensive investigations of the campaign ever undertaken, with the aim of providing a wealth of previously unpublished material on the various armies and contingents present during the dramatic climax to this important period of European history. The vast majority of his work is based on manuscript and archival sources, with the emphasis on primary research. He is the author of the acclaimed books of correspondence on the Hanoverian and Netherlands armies, with further publications on the French and Prussians scheduled.