Last weekend I was press-ganged into accompanying my daughter to London where she was attending an audition for one of those cringe-worthy game shows (something akin to 'Dating in the dark' I think).
Anyway having dropped her off at the allotted time and place I had about three hours to kill and decided to take a look around the British Museum nearby. After almost three hours of looking at a lot of stonework with very little information associated with it, I decided it was time to quit the museum and make my way back to Tottenham Court Road so that I was close on hand when summoned by text.
As I was walking back I discovered one of those little London books shops, that trustingly display a range of their wares on a table placed outside on the pavement, and my eye was attracted by a paperback depicting a Napoleonic battle scene and the words 'Wellington's Smallest Victory' embossed over it. Closer inspection revealed that it was written by Peter Hofschroer one of the few historians that I actually respect, but I'd never heard of this particular work.
I picked it up to find out what it was about and was surprised to discover that it was the history of the making of the battlefield model of Waterloo by William Siborne, and how Wellington ably assisted by his cronies both in government and the army managed to both discredit and ruin Siborne and destroy the accuracy of the model.
It was actually in a sale for just over £3 and I bought it without hestitation.
I can highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the Battle of Waterloo. Not only does it detail the sad fate of Sibourne and his model, but it explains in considerable detail why the true history of the Battle of Waterloo continues to be a matter of great controversy and why so many histories of it have been corrupted and misled by those who were there and knew better, but chose to lie and corrupt the history of the battle for their own ends.
Ideally, it should be read after Sibournes 'Waterloo Letters' as these really set the scene for what follows in the book. Though for me the most interesting aspect was that 'Waterloo Letters' is apparently just a tiny sample of the correspondence that Sibourne entered into with the witnesses of all nations who were there on the day. Many of whom went to great lengths to provide Sibourne with a truthful account of events.
It's a truly interesting read for anyone who, like me, is keen to get beyond the official history of the battle and find out what really happened at Waterloo and in history generally. I think I can now rightly place Sibourne on my list of true heroes when it comes to the handful of people prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of discovering the truth.