October 1, 2026 saw delivery of my just-published book on Quatre Bras, 1815. The publisher, Sound of Drums, did a good job, offering a handsome hard cover, thick interior pages, and a nice amount of interior color, including color illustrations. The list price is $25.00 plus postage. I have not yet learned if and how the publisher intends to sell outside of North America (the company is based in Switzerland). I sold out my first small shipment, and have ordered additional copies. Contact me at napoleonbooks@gmail.com if you would like us to save you a copy, and we will let you know when the new shipment arrives.
Sound of Drums books—designed to accompany their board games—will conform in size and layout to Quatre Bras. The books themselves are thin, 128 pages with some 33,000 words. Unlike Napoleon Books, there are no footnotes. I had not intended to continue commercial writing, but the publisher invited me to tell the story of Quatre Bras however I wished and so I have. Here is the table of contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
A word on sources
A word on language
1. The Strategic Picture
The Prussian Army
The French Army
The Sepoy General
The British Army
2. The Three Arms: The Tactical Mosaic
Fighting around Gilly on June 15
The main generic infantry formations used during the Napoleonic Wars
3. March to Contact, June 15, 1815
The Terrain
Desertion!
Dancing on the Eve: The Duchess of Richmond’s Ball
Night Positions
The Prussian View of the Strategic Situation
4. Battle at the Crossroads
Could Ney have captured Quatre Bras on June 15?
5. The Battle Begins
The 2nd Legere: What made them so tough?
Partial Truths and Legends
Fact or Fiction
Analysis of Battle, June 16
Blaming D’Erlon
6. Crisis at the Crossroads
Skirmisher versus Lancer
British Counter-attack
An Officer in the 108th Ligne
A French Cavalry Regiment at Quatre Bras
A Grognard in the 5th Lancers
Partial Truths and Legends
7. Order, Counter-Order, Confusion
Chief of Staff Marshal Soult
Fact or Fiction
8. Counter-Attack
Woodland Combat: The Attack of the British Guards
Analysis of Battle, June 16
9. March to Nowhere
Column of March
Blaming D’Erlon
10. June 17, 1815, The Day After The Battle
Napoleon’s Health
Post-Script: The Flight of the Eagle
11. Colonial Wars, Revolution, Fame and Infamy
What Became of the Men of Quatre Bras
What Became of the Allied States
Ignored in Dispatches
Bibliography
James R. Arnold
October 2026