WATERLOO

A story of Napoleon, of the escape from Elba, of the days culminating in Waterloo, first from the side of the French, then of the English. It may be familiar material to Napoleonic scholars, but much of it seemed fresh and new and dramatic in the reading. Not strictly a novel, though the facts are fictionized somewhat, and the story built successively around minor figures in one group or the other. A rather tragic picture of Napoleon, himself, with much of his confidence in himself gone, and his powers -- mental, physical -- slipping from him. The readers of Coronet will find this a less powerful, but still a rewarding book.