The wars started with a peasant's revolt in Paris and ended beside an obscure farmhouse in Belgium. Over nearly three decades, France, her armies and her new emperor turned Europe into a cauldron of conflict.
Henri Durant and Jean Tavere were just two of the thousands of men whose lives were turned upside down in these tumultuous years. In the end, only one of them would survive the battle of…
Waterloo!
Introduction
200 years ago, the battle that - arguably if you're French - set the political landscape of Europe for many generations was fought in a previously insignificant area of what was then the Netherlands. Waterloo.
Described by the eventual victor, the Duke of Wellington, as "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life" it was a titanic struggle between the armies of half the nations of Europe. But what of the men, the ordinary Joes and Pierres who closed together in the heat and smoke of battle? We asked regular Commando writer Ferg Handley to weave some of his magic and give us a tale that showed a little of the life they might have lived. That he's managed to put those lives in an authentic historical setting - not just an extended battle scene - is testament to his talents.
He came up with a pair of stories (Part Two is coming soon!) that Carlos Pino has illustrated with his customary panache. I really do think they've done us proud.
Calum Laird, Commando Editor
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