This is another part of neglected history and the publisher notes that it has not been covered for more than forty years. The author has addressed this deficit with a very readable account that is based on British, French, Dutch and Russian accounts – Highly Recommended.
NAME: A Waste of Blood & Treasure. The 1799 Anglo-Russian Invasion of the Netherlands FILE: R2605 AUTHOR: Philip Ball PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: hard back PAGES: 206 PRICE: £19.99 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Low Countries, Cockpit of Europe, Netherlands, Russian, Great Britain, French Revolutionary Wars, invasion, landings, Royal Navy ISBN: 1-47388-518-3 IMAGE: B2605.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/y95bldlv LINKS: DESCRIPTION: This is another part of neglected history and the publisher notes that it has not been covered for more than forty years. The author has addressed this deficit with a very readable account that is based on British, French, Dutch and Russian accounts – Highly Recommended. A familiar nursery song remarks that 'the Grand Old Duke of York had 10,000 men, he marched them up to the top of the hill and marched them down again'. The ditty may be familiar still but the events on which it is based are not well known. The Duke of York was to see his last field command in this campaign. which was a failure and probably accounted for him never to be called upon again to command an Army, although he continued to be a figure in Horseguards. The French Revolution was a terrible shock to the Crowned Heads of Europe. With the exception of Great Britain, with its established constitutional monarchy, Europe was divided into nation states that were headed by autocratic monarchs. Some kings were benign, and well regarded by the people of those states, but the most common experience was of a monarch who had little interest in his people and regarded their interests of little account. There was a disconnect, and often discord between the higher elements of society. Marie Antoinette may not have made the “let them eat cake” response to calls for bread for the population of France, but it was probably very close to what she said and how she viewed the peasant beyond her walls. When the French revolted, many other monarchs felt too close to the tumbrils and guillotine. One of these was the autocratic Czar of the Russia's who felt an urgent need to crack down on the French example. The result was that Russia and Britain considered joining in an expedition to correct the situation. The Netherlands presented a reasonably attractive place to make a start because it was close to Britain, presented many potential landing places for an invasion fleet, was well known to the British from the outstanding campaigns by the Duke of Marlborough, and had a population that were generally disposed to their fellow Protestants, with more common interests and histories than contention. That did however ignore the detailed complexities and the unique relationship of the House of Orange, the City Burgers and the people. There was some fertile ground that could be exploited by revolutionaries and there were still those who recalled the period of the Anglo-Dutch Wars where the Netherlands had United its Seven Provinces and their Admiralties to achieve great success over the Royal Navy, even sailing up the Medway to bombard Chatham and make off with the Royal Navy's flagship Royal Charles. The author has used first hand accounts to provide graphic detail and blended these with extensive research. This has produced what may prove to be the definitive account of this campaign and its political and diplomatic background. This enables the reader to understand the objectives, how they were implemented, what the potential importance was, and how the campaign resulted in failure. There is also a modest but interesting photo plate section depicting key characters and showing the terrain as it is seen today.