Went the Day Well?: Witnessing Waterloo

Great read on the anniversary of one of the greatest game changing battles in Western European history.

This is a different take on the battle. Like all wars the world continues on. This book gives accounts of what was happening in England on the day of Waterloo. A more interesting read.

A terrific book on a favorite subject.

It started out well. Then I realized, that many characters showing up in Britain were of absolutely no interest. That would be fine, in the history of the world most people's lives are of no interest except to themselves and maybe to their family and friends. Eventually, my eyes glazed over - sheer boredom. To add insult to the self-inflicted injury (it was me who bought the book,) an electronic glitch made the Kindle version nigh illegible. Originally on my Kindle Fire 8.9 HDX each chapter started with the picture of an old pocket watch the hands set to the time of day. Out of a sudden, pffft - the picture disappeared and the chapters started out with stuff that only a code writer could love. I tried to re- download the book from my PC, no help. My suggestion: if you are suffering from insomnia, start reading this book. Guaranteed to put you to sleep. Considering that the Battle of Waterloo was one of the great events of the 19th Century, this is no easy feat.

The stories are too fragmented and loosely connected. While there is interestingly granulated material about surrounding life, the overall remains bogged down.

Great!

A splendid book in the Waterloo bicentennial year. Mr Crane tell the tale through the eyes and writings of contemporaries. Read it - it's great!

Well versed in the minutia of English social life of the era, Crane shows how lives big and small, as well as society in general, were affected as they waited for results of the battle of Waterloo on Sunday, June 18, 1815. The book has odds at 3:1 on an allied victory, although most took it more seriously than a sporting event. I think the odds were much closer on the battlefield. Venues range up and down England and across the channel. There is insight into activities of soldiers, sailors, royals, merchants, crofters, school children, artists, poets, clergymen, church goers, prisoners and an American lawyer. It covers personal perspective from people of all ages and walks of life, poignantly including women who didn't yet know that they were widows. Features include a market manipulation hoax that Bonaparte had been killed, a boxing champion who heroically fought and died in the battle and many other personal stories. Crane writes as though he personally knew everyone in England and many in France and Belgium. I wonder what Jane Austen was doing. The book mentions her brother Francis, a Commander in the Royal Navy who eventually rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral. Some stories are more interesting than others. Every reader can follow his interest as there is something for every taste. Towards the end the tone changes to more somber as the mediate aftermath memorializes the dead and wounded. The war served to unite the British as much bravery on behalf of GB was shown by Scottish, Irish and Welsh soldiery. The British Isles truly became the UK. Crane downplays the effect of war in social reform. It was reaction to a miscarriage of justice that resulted in judicial reform. He reminds us that this was the era of the Clearances. Later we see the Peterloo Massacre, the Cato Conspiracy, the Corn Law Riots, and the Chartist demonstrations. There's an interesting litany of other battles, but space precludes any in depth analysis. To explain the slow British military reform, Crane points out that losers learn more than winners. In contrast to The Napoleonic wars failure as a catalyst for change, he indicates the vote for women after WWI and the welfare state after WWII. This is a very original and informative method of combining military and social history in a historical narrative while neither aggrandizing nor trivializing the art of war. Cane's writing day went very well.

An excellent read - a holistic description of the lead up to the battle against the social milieu of the age

Certainly covers what happened in England on "The Day". Could have used more information of the actual battle and the movement of military assets during the battle. The gossipy p;arts became just that, coffee shop gossip, not of real interest.

This is a trip in a time machine.The author takes you back to that day of Waterloo.The battle is merely the focule point.So one need not be interested in military matters to be enthrauled.

Bought for my hubby and he loves this book. So well written and informative

I was very disappointed in "Went the Day Well". Some chapters seemed to be little more that a re-hash of what can easily be read elsewhere (eg chapter on Madeleine de Lancey), and overall I thought I was reading a strongly slanted left-wing view of the time. I was angry and irritated a lot of the time when reading it.