A Ronald Welch original
The manuscript of The Road to Waterloo lay unread among Ronald Welch’s papers for more than thirty years after his death and is published here, with specially commissioned illustrations, for the first time. Though not officially part of the Carey series, this novella fills a significant gap in the family story and fits neatly into the series – the French mother of its young protagonist James Carey, we learn, had fled to England during the Revolution, an episode which featured in the earlier novel Escape from France.
Now James, at 17, is a Cornet in the 30th Light Dragoons, preparing to confront Napoleon Bonaparte, who has recently escaped from Elba. It’s a thrilling picture of the build-up to Wellington’s victory at Waterloo and of a great army preparing for battle, and it has all the inimitable Welch ingredients – a young hero who grows up during the course of the book, entirely believable characters and a fast-paced plot brought alive by vivid historical detail.
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‘Thank you very much for The Road to Waterloo which arrived safely this morning – just as I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms after finishing the series . . .’
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‘The other week, a surprise parcel turned up in the mail for me. Inside was a beautiful, clothbound new edition of a never-before-published Ronald Welch book, The Road to Waterloo . . .’
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The Real Person!
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I read the The Road to Waterloo right away the day it came. Wonderful to have that much of the story. Ronald Welch was a great author and I would have been greatly interested in reading his description of the battle of Waterloo. I began reading Welch’s books when I was in my teens and living in Epsom. I had collected some of his books, but many were ex-library copies and I am very pleased to have a complete set so nicely bound.
A posthumously published novella, possibly Welch would have expanded it into a full-length novel. Easy to read but lacks the impact of his novels. A minor continuity error is that the hero is in the 30th Light Dragoons which was disbanded in 1796 (says Wikipedia).