So great is the weight of reading on the subject of the Waterloo campaign that it might be thought there is nothing left to say about it; and from the military viewpoint; this is very much the case. But one critical aspect of the story has gone all but untold – the French home front. Little has been written about the topic in English; and few works on Napoleon or Revolutionary and Napoleonic France pay it much attention. It is this conspicuous gap in the literature that Charles Esdaile explores in this erudite and absorbing study. Drawing on the vivid; revealing material that is available in the French archives; in the writings of soldiers who fought in France in 1814 and 1815 and in the memoirs of civilians who witnessed the fall of Napoleon or the Hundred Days; he gives us a fascinating new insight into the military and domestic context of the Waterloo campaign; the Napoleonic legend and the wider situation across Europe.
#1187173 in Books Osprey Publishing 2016-06-21 2016-06-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 250.95 x 8.51 x 6.07l; .65 #File Name: 147281258196 pages9781472812582
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. After the Battle of Britain; the Battle of the Channel...By HMS WarspiteAt the conclusion of the Battle of Britain; with the threat of German invasion receding; the Royal Air Force began an offensive of its own; with regular counter-air missions into the air space over France; Belgium; and the Netherlands. The Spitfire fighter was the mainstay of the so-called Channel Front; as the RAF "leaned into Europe" during 1941 to 1943."Spitfire Aces of the Channel Front 1941-43" is an Osprey Aircraft of the Aces Series book; authored by Andrew Thomas; with illustrations by Chris Thomas. The narrative picks up the story in early 1941; as the RAF gradually went over to the offensive; and carries through to the eve of the D-Day invasion. The story discusses aircraft; tactics; and leaders; but mostly it is a surprisingly detailed account of the aces who flew Spitfires during this period. There is a table at the end of the book summarizing the men who qualified as aces based on five or more aerial kills; but much of the story is told as a series of almost breathless vignettes of aerial combat. The narrative is nicely supported by an excellent selection of period photographs and some color plates of examples of Spitfires from the period.A couple of items stood out to this reader. One was the development of the Spitfire IX as an agile opponent of the German FW 190 fighter; which rather overmatched earlier versions of the Spitfire. The second was the appalling casualty rates of the RAF offensive; as large numbers of the heroes of the Battle of Britain succumbed to too much aerial combat; dying in action or spending the balance of the war in a German POW camp. Victory came at a huge cost. Highly recommended to students of the aerial operations of the Second World War.6 of 8 people found the following review helpful. British Wishful ThinkingBy Sepp DietrichThis publication covers the aerial combats in Northwestern Europe from the Spitfire pilots' point of view which was very difficult for them prior to the USAAF participation even though the RAF outnumbered their Luftwaffe opponents and sustained far greater losses than the Jagdwaffe. The RAF heavily overclaimed and at the time it was believed that the RAF daylight offensive was succeeding thanks to British propaganda which many to this day still buy into. This work shows the losses sustained even among experienced British pilots; including many aces. Unfortunately; the author seems to accept at face value the description given by some of these aces when; upon examination of German records; their tales could not be true.A good example is the painting on the cover of the book which shows the Spitfire VI flown by Sq. Ldr. Tommy Balmforth shooting down in flames a Fw 190 of JG 26; with B-17s in the background. Balmforth claimed two Fw 190s in this combat. The fact is that JG 26 lost no aircraft on 12 December 1942; the date of this combat. British fighter pilots claimed a total of seven destroyed/probably destroyed for the loss of five Spitfires. The B-17 gunners claimed an additional 26. The Germans sustained no losses. JG 26 claimed four Spitfires and two B-17s. Allied losses were five Spitfires and two B-17s. Unfortunately; the author fails to state these facts.There are many more examples of British overclaiming. A good example is the date that Douglas Bader was shot down. The RAF claimed 33 German fighters but the Luftwaffe lost only two fighters on this date. I was particularly interested in the claims of a top ace; Paddy Finucane; who had claimed to have shot down the Bf 109F flown by Adolf Galland over England on 15 April 1941; on the lobster and champagne flight when Galland brought down three Spitfires (although he claimed only two). Galland's Messerschmitt sustained no hits but Finucane was credited with one destroyed. Finucane also claimed two Fw 190s on 13 March 1942 including the blowing off of the Fw 190's tail which the author describes. In fact no German losses occured on this date. I have to wonder about the rest of Finucane's claims. History is fortunate that most of the British pilots' accounts have survived which cannot be said of the German combat reports which were destroyed by Allied bombing or by deliberate destruction on Goering's orders. Fortunately we do have survivor's accounts; many of which Don Caldwell used in his histories of JG 26 which this author; Andrew Thomas; should have used; in addition to Jochen Prien's histories of the Jagdwaffe with claims and losses (in German).0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Channel FrontBy Jeffrey A. CarleAn interesting read; detailed and an excellent resource.
