A fine history from a great historian There have been many historians of the Napoleonic Age, but inevitably some-as a result of their scholarship and their ability to communicate their ideas and research in a thorough, clear and above all entertaining and engrossing way-become highly regarded and their names and works endure. Henry Houssaye is one such. His work will be well known to students of the later period of the First Empire and this book-concerning the battles leading to the fall of Paris, the Emperors abdication and the Bourbon Restoration-is a fine example of his craft. Houssaye's talent was not simply to explain and analyse the often complex strategies, tactics and movements of opposing armies in the field, but to take the reader inside the heads of the leading protagonists. Were that not sufficient Houssaye also brings colour and character to his writing by recounting the exploits and experiences of the humbler participants of these monumental events. A well rounded piece of research and writing with deserved classic status.