[The Duke of Wellington and the British Army of Occupation in France, 1815-1818] (By: Thomas Dwight Veve) [published: August, 1992]

The author's justification for this work is, rightly, that there has been very little analysis and interpretation of this period in Wellington's life. Typical histories of the man do tend to gloss over his work in France in the immediate aftermath of Waterloo if indeed they are mentioned at all.Veve has laid out his work in chapters that mirror very compartmentalised aspects of the Army of Occupation time in France with the page count before references not generally exceeding 15 pages making this a brief read on 174 pages in total. There is quite a lot of detail concerning the day-to-day aspects of the Army's role in northern France but very little about Wellington's personal role. In fact, Wellington is a name that appears on a page in connection with some task and one doesn't really get a sense of how he operated, the pressures he was under, his achievements, his losses etc.This book is a quite the dispassionate analysis and appears very much based on an academic thesis rather than a history that brings to life this period of Wellington's career. I would have to echo some previous reviews that a lot more could have been done with this work to make it a valuable collection to Wellingtonia. For instance, an extension to include Wellington's interaction with the other foreign contingents (which we know was frustrating) would have been useful rather than simply regurgitating one line anecdotes from Longford's biography concerning the Prussians and the Pont de Jena. Given the price of this book, readers are entitled to more but, be that as it may, this is a good basis for a more detailed study of Wellington's time in France after Waterloo.

A fascinating study that covers the details that others have left aside. While the new French government and returning émigrés played out the White Terror against those who had sided with the Empire, a massive multinational army of occupation made sure it would all never happen again, staying in the east for several years. I had a relation serving there in the cavalry and hoped to learn more. It could have provided more information.