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Napoleon fights the Battle of Waterloo with only two of his 26 Marshals at his side, and both of them in the wrong roles.

After the long march home from Russia, the Grande Armée is depleted and demoralised.

Napoleon is forced by his Marshals to abdicate and flee to Elba. But indefatigable he returns to fight the battle of Waterloo – now with only two of what was once twenty-six Marshals at his side.

Written by Andrew Roberts
Read by Ben Cura
Producer Lu Kemp

Andrew Roberts (Lord Roberts of Belgravia) is an award-winning historian whose prize-winning books include Salisbury, Masters and Commanders, The Storm of War, Napoleon the Great, George III and Churchill: Walking with Destiny. An Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he is currently a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University, and Visiting Professor at King’s College, London.

14 minutes

On radio

Fri 13 Nov 202611:45
BBC Radio 4

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  • Fri 13 Nov 202611:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Sat 14 Nov 202600:30
    BBC Radio 4