From the sun-baked sierras of Spain, through the stormy waters off Cape
Trafalgar to the muddy and bloody fields of Waterloo, Britain's soldiers
and sailors were notching up victories which set the country on the path
to becoming the greatest power on the planet. We like to imagine the
country was unified against a common enemy, France, and the Tyrant of
Europe - Napoleon. Yet if we scratch the surface, we find a nation not
just at war with France but with itself.
The great successes of Wellington and Nelson, and the glamour of Regency
London, cover over the cracks of a divided society, of riots across the
industrial north and widespread political opposition. Huge swathes of
the country hated the war, booed and hissed at soldiers and 'lobbed
turds' at the Scots Greys in Halifax. There were repeated 'Peace
Petitions' which sought to stop the war - and even to prevent the
British Army fighting at Waterloo.
Armed Associations of gentlemen volunteers and Local Militias led the
call to close down the debate on social and democratic reform, while on
the other hand thousands of English reformers heeded the call from
France and hundreds actually headed to France, with many thousands more
believing that the time had come, when its young men were needed to
fight for King and Country, for reform.
The burgeoning middle class had no vote in parliament; rapidly expanding
industrial towns and cities had no MPs, yet small villages - pocket
boroughs - often had two. The burden of taxation fell on those least
able to afford it; enclosure of common land; corn laws; restrictions on
the freedom of expression; the endless killing, all fed into an
undercurrent of political dissent that was ideologically opposed to the
loyalist cause. It was a battle for the very sole of Britain.
For the first time, the shocking reality of life in Britain, during what
is often portrayed as being its greatest era, is told through diaries,
letters, and newspaper comments. Fighting Napoleon at Home is a
startling portrayal of the society from which the soldiers and sailors
were drawn and exactly what it was they were fighting to defend. It will
become essential reading for anyone attempting to understand why
Britain's aristocracy had to stop Napoleon at any cost and suppress the
dangerous ideals of liberté, égalité, fraternité.
