After midnight on June 19, 1815... On the battlefield, over 50,000 men and 7,000 horses lie dead and wounded; the remnants of a once proud French Grande Armée struggle in open disorder towards the Belgian border, pursued by deadly Prussian lancers; and Napoleon Bonaparte, weary and shocked by the extent of his defeat, rides into the darkness towards Paris, resignation, and captivity. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, news of the battle shaped the consciousness of an era. Drawing from a multitude of contemporary voices and opinions, Paul O’Keeffe brings to the forefront, as never before, the sights, sounds, and smells of the battlefield, of conquest and defeat, of celebration and uprisings.
