Search results for ""author 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 battlefield guide. This thoroughgoing, lucid, easy-to-follow guide is a fascinating introduction for anyone who seeks to understand what happened on that momentous day, and it will be an essential companion for visitors to the battlefield in Belgium.

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This is the first guide to sites in the British Isles connected to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars to be published. Stately homes, memorials, statues, dockyards, fortifications, tombs, churches, hospitals and museums associated with the wars are all described in vivid detail. There are hundreds of such sites with many of them being closely linked to military heroes like Wellington and Nelson and the forces they commanded. Highpoints include not only St Paul's Cathedral, Nelson's Column and Apsley House in London but more obscure monuments and buildings outside the capital like Edinburgh Castle, HMS Victory in Portsmouth Dockyard, the Western Heights Fortifications in Dover, Fishguard invasion site in Wales, Castlebar battlefield in Ireland and Martello towers along the English coastline. Many minor sites of great interest are listed too. David Buttery's guidebook gives the reader a fascinating insight into this long period of conflict between the British and the French and into the buildings, statues and memorials that commemorate it.

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At the heart of David Butterys third book on the Peninsular War lies the comparison between two great commanders of enormous experience and reputation Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, and Jean de Dieu Soult. In Soult, Wellesley met one of his most formidable opponents and they confronted each other during one of the most remarkable, and neglected, of the Peninsular campaigns. Soult's invasion of Portugal is rarely studied in great depth and, likewise, the offensive Wellesley launched, which defeated and expelled the French, has also received scant coverage. As well as giving a fresh insight into the contrasting characters of the two generals, the narrative offers a gripping and detailed, reconstruction of the organization and experience of a military campaign 200 years ago.

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Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most influential rulers in European history. Renowned as a military commander, he was also a great statesman, administrator, lawmaker and builder - and his civic achievements outlived and arguably eclipsed his victories on the battlefield. Yet while there are a host of biographies and studies of his military and political career, few books have been written about his connections with Paris, the capital of his empire, where many remarkable buildings and monuments date from his time in power. That is why David Buttery's highly illustrated guidebook to Napoleon's Paris is such a timely and valuable addition to the literature designed for visitors to the city. Many of the most famous sites in the city were built or enhanced on Napoleon's instructions or are closely associated with him and with the period of the First French Empire - the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the H tel des Invalides, Mus e de l'Arm e, Notre Dame Cathedral, P re-Lachaise Cemetery among them. David Buttery's guide covers them all in evocative detail. His work is essential reading for every visitor to Paris who is keen to gain an insight into the influence of Napoleon on the city and the tumultuous period in French history in which he was the dominant figure.

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