Dimensions
129 x 198 x 22mm
Four days in June, 1815. Five men, three armies, on the fields of Waterloo. A battle for honour, glory, civilisation. And two great leaders, Napoleon and Wellington, in direct confrontation for the first time, to take their nations to victory.
On the battlefield, there is room for humanity, room for the hearts of men in times of great hardship. Four Days in June goes straight to that heart, and to the men who were integral to this most famous of battles. Wars are won by the men who lead them. This is the story of those men's strength, their courage, their thoughts and their fears.
General De Lancey, Wellington's new Quartermaster-General, recently married and yearning for his beautiful wife. Colonel MacDonnell, a Scot who must hold his post to the last man. General Ziethen of the Prussian army, distrustful of the British but vital to their cause. Marshall Ney, mistrusted by Napoleon but revered by the French soldiers. And Napoleon, who must prove his worth as a great warrior for the glory of France.
As the battle develops over the four days, it is seen through the very different positions and characters of the front men. From the eve of the battle to its bloody conclusion, there is defiance, desperation and great courage on both sides. Iain Gale, in his first novel, draws the scene, the devastation, the stench of war, with such vitality that, though the outcome is known, the tension of war comes vividly to life.
