Who Owned Waterloo?

Luke Reynolds received his PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and also holds degrees from Trinity College, Dublin, Hunter College, CUNY, and the University of Cambridge. A born-and-raised New Yorker, he is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut's Stamford Campus.

• Introduction: 'The Ever-Memorable Battle of Waterloo' 1: 'The most uncomfortable heap of glory that I ever had a hand in': Histories and Memoirs 2: 'The great English pilgrimage': Battlefield Tourism, Relics, and Ownership of the Field 3: 'Demonstrations of true British feeling and exultation': Annual Commemorations 4: 'The fullest instruction on a subject so illustrious': Exhibitions 5: 'Grand Military and National Spectacle': Waterloo on Stage and Canvas 6: 'To commemorate the English character': Monuments and Material Culture Epilogue: 'The last great Englishman is low': The Funeral of the Duke of Wellington Appendix: Military Plays and Hippodramas before and after Waterloo

Who owned Waterloo? covers a great deal of ground in a relatively short space and without ever feeling too compressed. Reynolds writes very well: his prose is lively and free of jargon, so that this is a monograph which can be read for pleasure as well as information. He shows great skill in selecting examples to explore in detail, while never losing sight of the wider picture, and his judgment is confident and convincing. This is an important book which explains a great deal about the way that memories of Waterloo contributed to Britain's understanding of her place in the world in the decades following the battle, and, by implication, how other countries in other times shape their own self-image.