Fortunes of War: The West Midlands at the Time of Waterloo - Softcover

The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) changed Britain and the West Midlands for ever. For some people this was a time of great prosperity while others were driven into poverty. Fortunes of War explores the stories of people from the region during this important time. Its publication commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo which put an end to Napoleon's ambitions once and for all.

In June 1815, the allied armies under the command of the Duke of Wellington finally defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Wellington's victory had a profound impact on European history, bringing to an end over a decade of war with France, and heralding the collapse of an imperial dynasty across the continent. However, the Napoleonic Wars also touched the lives of millions of ordinary people, and continued to do so for years after Waterloo. In this special publication from History West Midlands, eleven leading writers and historians explore how the lives and fortunes of many West Midlanders were affected, both for the better and for the worse, by Napoleon's relentless empire-building. Fortunes of War reveals the West Midlands at a fascinating point in its history, as local industrialists grew rich on the proceeds of the gun trade, and families waited anxiously for news of loved ones who had gone to war. This new research also tells some of the little-known stories about this period, most notably that of Napoleon's brother, Lucien Bonaparte, whose own fluctuating fortunes of war saw him exiled from France before he took up residence in Worcestershire. As the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo approaches in 2015, the time is ripe to reconsider what West Midlands life was like two hundred years ago, and how this war-torn era left an indelible mark on the society, culture, and economic history of our region.