One of the most decisive battles in military history, Waterloo saw the culmination of a generation of war to bring a definitive end to French hegemony and imperial ambitions in Europe. Both sides fought bitterly and Wellington later remarked that ‘it was the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life’.

In this bloody engagement, more than 20,000 men were lost on the battlefield that day by each side, but it was the Anglo-Allies who emerged victorious. Their forces entered France and restored Louis XVIII to the throne, while Napoleon was exiled to the island of Saint Helena, where he later died.

Waterloo was a resounding victory for the British Army and Allied forces, and it changed the course of European history. In this concise yet detailed account, historian Gregory Fremont-Barnes tells you everything you need to know about this critical battle.

GREGORY FREMONT-BARNES holds a doctorate in Modern History from Oxford University and has served as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He has written extensively on a broad range of military history, including Battle Story: Goose Green 1982, Waterloo 1815 and The Falklands 1982: Ground Operations in the South Atlantic, as well as editing Armies of the Napoleonic Wars and the three-volume Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars .