Past Meets Present: The Battle of Waterloo

As part of the Library’s year of celebration of Jane Austen, this month’s novel Persuasion is set shortly before Waterloo, with a key character, Captain Wentworth, a returning Royal Navy hero. Napoleon Bonaparte escaped his exile on Elba in March 1815 and quickly made his way to Paris, easily regaining power while French leaders were in Vienna, along with key European figures, at the Congress of Vienna. The closest European armies that could be used to confront Napoleon were in The Netherlands: a Prussian army under Field Marshal von Blücher, and a British force, under Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington. By mid-June, the three armies were converging in modern Belgium. Come join Valencia College Professor Carl Creasman to uncover the background and subsequent military maneuvers of the Battle of Waterloo.

Partnership with Valencia College.