I Stood with Wellington ~ Review

I Stood with Wellington
By James Mace

The war for European supremacy had ended with Napoleon's abdication or so they thought.  But France was in turmoil as factions struggled to control the country and to get rid of the Duke of Wellington for his role in their defeat. And unhappy with the restoration of the Bourbon king Louis XVIII and his morbid and glutenous habits in the face of the nation's starvation and suffering.  

Meanwhile the fate of France was being decided at the Congress of Vienna as Napoleon manipulated the situation on Elba to ensure his escape to continental Europe. Soon the fate of France, Europe and indeed the world was about  to be decided on the field of battle in a place known as Waterloo as the greatest military genius's of the age finally met.  Who will be victorious?  And who will fall?  Only history can say and you can discover for yourself the brutality that reigned 1815 Europe.

I Stood with Wellington is an interesting look at history and the factors that contributed to the general unrest that was soon to erupt.  Perfect for a High School historical fiction book report assignment! This is not light reading.

I was provided a digital copy of this book by the author with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Author:

James Mace was born in Edmonds, Washington, and grew up in Meridian, Idaho. He joined the U.S. Air Force out of high school, and three years later changed over to the U.S. Army. He spent a career as a soldier, including service in the Iraq War.

In 2011, he left his full-time position with Army Guard and devoted himself completely to writing. His series, "Soldier of Rome - The Artorian Chronicles", has been a perennial best-seller in ancient history on Amazon. In 2012 he branched into the Napoleonic Era with the short novella, "Forlorn Hope: The Storming of Badajoz". This was soon followed by the full-length novel, "I Stood With Wellington".

He also co-wrote the critically acclaimed screenplay, The Evil That Men Do.

Visit him at www.legionarybooks.net  

About the Book:

I Stood With Wellington

In February, 1815, after nine months in exile, Napoleon Bonaparte, the deposed Emperor of the French, escaped from the Isle of Elba. Seizing the initiative while the European powers bicker amongst themselves at the Congress of Vienna, Napoleon advances towards Belgium with an enormous army, where the combined forces of Prussia and England are cantoned. The French Emperor knows that if he can achieve a decisive capture in Brussels, it will shatter the already fragile European alliance.

Leading the allies is Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington; the venerable British field marshal who defeated Napoleon’s best generals in Spain, yet who the emperor had never personally met in battle. Napoleon knows that if he can draw away Wellington’s chief Prussian ally, Gebhard von Blucher, and destroy his army first, he can unleash his entire might against the British. A victory over the unbeaten Wellington will cripple the alliance even further, as it will then deprive them of both English soldiers and financing.

In Belgium, Captain James Henry Webster has finally returned to a line regiment after being terribly wounded at the Siege of Badajoz three years prior. He is given command of a line company within the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, the elite of the British Infantry.

A series of indecisive clashes will lead to a collision between the two greatest military minds of the age and the bloodiest single day of the entire century, as Wellington and Napoleon lead their armies to either immortality or oblivion. For Captain Webster, he fights for both his nation and to protect his young daughter in Brussels. Along with the rest of the Guards Division, he finds himself at the apex of the battle, where the fate of the entire world will be decided; at a place called Waterloo.