Book #37
Waterloo by Victor Hugo
A tense, dramatic account of the Battle of Waterloo - and how a rain shower changed history - from Victor Hugo's epic novel Les Misérables.
This is an excerpt from Les Misérables, which is slowly winding its way up my reading list - I imagine I’ll get to it at some point this year. It was a good introduction to Hugo’s gorgeous writing skills, however I am not, nor will I ever be, interested in the descriptions of battle tactics. Luckily there was a bit more here than crash bang wallop.
Hugo’s descriptions are very fluid and vivid, and Hugo paints an excellent picture of the state of the political and social elements of the time, also hinting at the emotional. It was interesting to read of how Napoleon was raised high on a pedestal by his people, despite his horrific behaviour and decision-making skills.