Napoleon After Waterloo. England and the St. Helena Decision by Thornton, Michael John

(Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1968). 8vo; original cloth, rather soiled; no dustwrapper; past owner's bookplate and signature on front endpapers; pp. xiv + 241, incl. index. Good condition. "Among the hundreds of books about Napoleon, none has treated in complete detail the story of his detention on British warships, shortly after the battle of Waterloo, while he awaited his fate at the hands of the British government. . . . This gap in the chronicle of Napoleon's career surprises us for several reasons. First, the incident is unique - one finds no denouement quite like it in accounts of the lives of other great men. Second, the drama of the few days during which Napoleon and the world waited for the announcement of what would be done with him can be felt even today. Finally, Napoleon's surrender to the English, his detention aboard the Bellerophon, and the eventual decision of the British government to confine him on St. Helena led to countless debates - few of which have been unbiased - concerning the justice or magnanimity of the British government." .