Belgium Books

I like the information that is presented in this book: history, culture, jobs, relocation, business...etc. It is well presented and organized. Although the author is speaking to his British folks, it can be used for Americans just fine. The only drawback is that it is 5 years old, so I hope it is still relevant today.

If you live in the USA, this is a fine book to get you pointed in the right direction. However the book is really written for British or Irish persons. Most of the information is dependant on your being a citizen of an EU nation.

This work has some interest as military history, but it would primarily be interesting, in my opinion, to those who would like to read about the relations between the various allied armies (Russian, German, English) in the campaigns of 1812-1815. The author at various points served as liason with the Russian and English armies, and it was interesting to learn about the tensions and rivalries between them, and more importantly, the sovereigns. While the book also relates the purely military aspects of the campaigns, these parts of the book are generally pretty tedious, as the author's main focus is often to point out how he had been right again, or at least, how some other historian had it wrong (he often goes on for pages on a point-by-point critique of another historian's analysis of some particular battle or campaign). In short, the author comes across as a pompous blow-hard, but if you can get past that and are interested in the relations between the various allied armies and their sovereigns, you will probably enjoy this book to some degree.

Müffling is best known for his role as Prussian liaison officer in the Duke of Wellington's headquarters during the Waterloo Campaign. As such, he was one of the architects of the allied victory.

This was, however, not Müffling's only achievement. He was for much of his military career a staff officer with a speciality in cartography. His maps were used throughout the 19th century. He later became chief-of-staff of the Prussian Army, then one of the world's strongest. This made him one of the most powerful men in the world at that time.

While Müffling's memoirs give an insight into many events in this dramatic period of history, one needs to take into account the circumspect way he relates certain errors he made. For instance, the Duke of Wellington used Müffling as a conduit for misleading information to Blücher, the commander of the Prussian army, during the Waterloo Campaign. If Müffling had really been alert, Wellington would not have got away with that so easily. Müffling's account of these events show that his memory was selective.

As one of the few Prussian accounts of this period that has been translated into English, this work should be read by all people interested in it.

While the intent of this book (amusingly showing young boys how you stand to pee) is great, the author goes a little too far in being 'funny' about it. It's almost irresponsible, thinking about how impressionable toddlers & pre-schoolers are. I had to alter the book in order to be able to show it to my child. I bought it when he was 3 & it took me a year to figure out what to do with it. The page where it shows the boy peeing on his mom in a bathtub, I ripped out completely along several other objectionable pages that frankly go too far. The page where he was peeing on the snail, I was able to cut out a piece of grass from a ripped out page & pasted over it. Also, my son doesn't have a sister. I change that to "mommy" when I read it. Even with a few less pages, it's now appropriate to show my 4 year old, and he loves the book. I also now feel very secure knowing my boy won't be peeing on the neighbors dog on purpose because he saw the little boy in this book doing somthing similar.

While the statue may not be familiar here in the US, anyone who is the parent of a little boy will laugh out loud at this book. Little boys just want to be like their dads and this book shows the hillarious things that happen when a little boy tries to pee standing up. Although his aim does get better with practice, the recipients of his misses may not appreciate it. I am the mom of a 5 yr old boy, who missed many times and I loved this book.

Thin, light and right to the point. There is info in this book, but not much of it. I don't like guidebooks to begin with so a light, easy to pin down one like this is passable. You won't find most thins, but the stuff that is in here is decent or better - it has very select information.

This booklet fits into a pocket, extract it and thumb through as you wait for your pankoeken breakfast. Think of an interest, or a need, for the day (or evening) and you will find something here that will surprise and delight. Neither a "best of' nor a "see every wonder" compendium, it's a rich source for modern Amsterdam and those items selected for inclusion.

For anyone looking for a wealth of details on the fateful three-day battle of Waterloo in 1815, this is the book. The big story of Waterloo is well-known and occasionally reexamined--namely, the decisive defeat of Napoleon with the consequence of more or less making for modern Europe as it continues into the present. The military historian Haythornthwaite concentrating on the Napoleonic era relates the countless details behind this big story.

What Haythornthwaite does in this book is relate countless specifics about uniforms, maneuvers, combat formations, weaponry, and tactics of the armies involved in Waterloo. This adds dimension to other accounts of the battle; which in most cases are straightforward, linear accounts of the battle as it unfolded. No matter how well one knows the battle of Waterloo or nineteenth-century European warfare, one will learn something from this work to enhance this knowledge. Knowing such details as what guard duty was like for French soldiers, what options officers had for deploying their units depending on the terrain, the formations and strengths of the units whose maneuverings had a role in the battle's outcome, the organization of the armies, how different kinds of forces such as cavalry and foot soldiers fought against each other, and battlefield communication cannot but add to a grasp of the nature of and appreciation of the battle. Even knowing the statistics such as numbers of officers and enlisted men in each unit, number of artillery pieces in these units, and casualties grouped in the appendices adds to the drama and human toll of the crucial battle.

"One of the most characteristic features of French infantry attacks was that they were usually preceded by large numbers of skirmishers, who could harass the enemy line with sharpshooting while concealing the extent of the following troops from the enemy's view." This tactic, however, put to use only the first two rows of a column of troops. Thus the author reasons that unit commanders would break the column formation to spread the troops out in a line to "maximize their firepower" where there was space to do this. In the Netherlands Army taking part in Waterloo, "Infantry battalions each comprised six companies, of which two were flank companies (sometimes styled 'heavy' and 'light') corresponding to the grenadiers and voltigeurs in French battalions." The book is filled with such specified, interrelated details about early 19th-century armies and warfare giving shape to Waterloo. This makes this distinctive work required prefatory reading for reading any other account or analysis of the battle. For Haythornthwaite's "Waterloo Armies" adds depth to understanding of it.

I am sorry to say that I do not like Philip Haythornthwaite's "The Waterloo Armies: Men, Organization & Tactics" more than I do. It is not that it is a poorly written or inaccurate work, but its scope is more limited than what I had hoped, and it lacks the nitty-gritty kind of details that I prefer. Although each corps and division (and its commander) is described, this same information is already available (and more colorfully presented) in Mark Adkin's "The Waterloo Companion". (I would say that if you are interested in Waterloo and do not have Adkin's excellent book, then Haythornthwaite's "The Waterloo Armies" is probably worth reading.) Like I said, not a bad book, but somewhat underwhelming.

This is a great book for the novice historian since it explains the battle with maps and explanations of all three sides (British, French, and Prussian). Not only is the battle explained, but brief biographies of all the major players in this drama are also included. One can get an idea of why this battle was waged the way it was because of all these descriptions. Chandler is very fair to all sides in this battle as he describes the conduct of the campaign. One of the previous reviewers attributes him being British as taking the British perspective, but I don't believe this to be true. Chandler describes the battle from all perspectives.
This is a great introductory book of the battle. It is a summary, but not an in depth story of the battle. The pictures, maps, short biographies, make this a very good read of the Waterloo battle.

I rate this book highly because it does its job, which is an introduction and background to the Battle of Waterloo for people who are new to this part of history and might want a good general background and understanding without going too deeply into the area. Very easy to read with lots of pictures. Don't expect a big heavy tome though, it really is a beginner's guide and a good one too. A very good starting point and easily digested. The only criticism I had was that the illustrations don't include the date, so a picture in the book is often not contemporary at all but painted decades after the Battle. There are many contemporary illustrations but many aren't and it is impossible to tell as dates aren't given. Since often contemporary pictures and illustrations tell us much, I found it bad historical practice that dates weren't given. However, a good starting point for the novice researcher.

Once again David G. Chandler, one of the most prolific Napoleonic authors, has provided us with an excellent book. Although published in 1980, the recent republishing by Osprey has given people the opportunity to purchase it rather take it out of the library. I first read this book about six years ago when I took it out and this was the first major work I had read on Waterloo. Since then I have purchased a copy and reread it. I find this to be an invaluable resource on the Battle of Waterloo and provides the layman with an easily readable account of the battle. I have also read Hofschroer's new series on the battle and although I believe he has provided us with an interesting look at a overlooked subject--German involvement in the battle--it is still just that. Chandler's in my mind remains the ultimate guide to the battle. Call it what you may, Chandler writes a book from the victor's perspective, mainly the British perspective of the battle. Chandler after all is British and has every right to portray the British as the victors, they WON the battle for the Allies.

While many tout this book as "lightweight" or "lacking" I find it to be superb. A book is not always meant to be an exhaustive comprehensive massive tome. David G Chandler has proven he can do that in his "The Campaigns of Napoleon" work. His piece about Waterloo is a wonderful quick overview of the 100 days campaign with indeed a focus on the British. Unlike Chandler's famous "The Campaigns of Napoleon", this book expresses Chandler's opinions about what was important about Waterloo and its long term effects, which in essence is his summation of the long term effects of the Napoleonic Era since Waterloo marked the end of it. Where as in his larger works Chandler has no time to express himself, in this short overview of Waterloo he does, making the book very engaging. His opinion about the importance of Lingy and Quatre Bras, deserves special note. Not a "must" have, but definatly a success in what it was intended to do.

I must admit I enjoyed reading this book when I first obtained it, but upon revisiting it my opinion has somewhat waned. The reason being is that I have since read Peter Hofschroer's work which was an excellent example of painstaking research and detail. Chandler's work now seems lightweight.

Chandler's book is good if you are looking for an overview of the events leading up Waterloo, Napoleonic tactics and strategy and the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo. The book makes lavish use of maps and prints which are very clear and a delight to the eye , but unfortunately it falls short in providing a very accurate and detailed account of the battles.

This is certainly a good buy if all you are seeking is an overview, but if you are familiar with the Battle of Waterloo you maybe looking for something more substantial. ( This review refers to a hard cover 1981 edition )

This author seems to have a decidely anti-Napoleonic bias. While on the surface there is nothing wrong with that, as Bonaparte has gott'en a lot of positive press over the years by Chandler and the like. Still, one would prefer a bit more subtle approach on what should be a balanced work on history.

This book is more a standard history than a military appreciation of the Waterloo campaign. Those looking for another military appraisal of this epic clash will be somewhat disappointed here. The author spends a lot of time chronicling the Emperor's return, which is interesting and does not tend to get too much attention in other works on the subject. Napoleon's efforts to the throw together a new government in a matter of days gets a lot of attention here and each major character involved gets a lot of attention. Fully a third or more of the book is taken up with mini bios on all the Bonaparte clan, as well as Fouche, Tallyrand, Davout and others. An entire chapter goes into great detail examining the tacit French resistence and over all lukewarm response toward his return in 1815.

The actual campaign of 1815 does not get started until the last third or so of the book. Here we get some nice insights of the strategies involved, and the mistakes made by all sides concerned. The letheragy of Ney, Soult, Grouchy and even the Emperor gets some explanation. Mistakes were made in 1815 that had not occured before. The author clearly shows that he was past his prime, and while the desire to conquer was still there, the will to do so was not. Napoleon's attention to detail was not at the same level as in previous campaigns. This might not have mattered before, but against the likes of Wellington, Blucher and Geneseau he could not afford such mistakes. Luck also was against him. Napolean often said a good marshal was a lucky one. This was lacking for him in 1815.

The author provides an exciting, if limited description of Waterloo itself. Nothing much new here as the emphasis of this book is elsewhere. Readers will be disappointed in the less detailed military perspective, and tried and true Bonaparte fans will also find much that is not appealing in Alan Schom's portrait of the great man. The main strength of this work stands on its overview of the three month period that comprises his return up to and including the famous battle itself. The characters of the time, the period international politics and the events leading up to the start of the campaign all make for good reading. Schom repeats himself a bit, but that is the nature of the beast when you try to combine social, political and military perspectives all in one volume. Worth reading and good to balance with many other works on the Waterloo campaign.

If you do not know much about Napoleon, esp. the Waterloo campaign, this is a great book for its simplicity in the events leading up to (and including) the battle of Waterloo.

I found this book to be very readable and once again, I also found it to be another one of Alan Schom's anti-Napoleon treatment. I am bit amazed that someone of Mr. Schom's talent as a writer and historian would be wasted on such bias effort. I would like to ask Mr. Schom if Napoleon have done anything good or decent in his life since he really like to paint this French Emperor and one of history's greatest military commanders as little better then petty dictator with delusion of grandeur with a Hitler complex.

Mr. Schom would probably find a greater acceptence among Napoleonic readers if he would be more fair in his assessments of the facts and characters. When you are too bias against your subject, then its pretty clear to any reader that you got a grudge against it.

The book overall, doesn't add anything new to anyone who is well read on the subject of Waterloo campaign. For experience readers, this book will end up in your local used book store. For casual readers, there are many anti-Napoleonic traps that author insert to make claims that Napoleon was nothing more then an early 19th century misanthrope.

PS: I believed HMS Bellerophon was a ship of a line, not a frigate.

I attacked One Hundred Days like Wellington attacked the French. Unlike a biography I read of Boney years ago, Schom marvelously and succinctly described the background and characters of a constellation of lesser notables who surrounded the Emperor. In doing so he made understandable the mood of France as Napoleon made his spectacular come back attempt before bowing out of European history. This book filled an enormous gap in my understanding of France as a European power and as a nation at the beginning of the 19th century. My daughter could hardly have made a better choice of gifts for my birthday.

Schom is no great fan of Napolean, as his recent biography of the little Corsican demonstrates. However, I thought in reading this book that he provided a fairly even-handed, readable description of a fascinating period in European history. Most readers are familiar with the basic facts: In 1815, the deposed Napolean Bonaparte escaped from his island exile of Elba, and set sail for the shores of his beloved France. The king sent the army to recapture him, but upon encountering their former leader the troops rallied to his cause, and he ultimately marched into Belgium as the rest of Europe looked on in horror at this menace whom they thought was out of their hair forever. An alliance of troops, under the command of Lord Wellington, met up with Napolean on the great battlefield of Waterloo, leading to Bonaparte's final great defeat.

This book provides a very readable account of these 4 months, and effectively demonstrated how close Napolean actually was to pulling off one more great victory. He points out the damaging mistakes by Napolean's inferior generals, leading to his flank being disrupted by General Blucher at a crucial point in the battle. We all know how the story ends, and yet the story was oddly suspenseful in Schom's hands nonetheless. He also paints a very vivid, sometimes unflattering portrait of Napolean, who was not the same man who boldly grasped the crown from the Pope in Notre Dame and proclaimed himself Emperor over 10 years earlier. Napolean was physically weaker, had a slight drool, and lacked the dynamic force of his younger days during the final 100 day campaign.

All in all, while Schom's critical attitude towards Bonaparte has sometimes been open to attack, I thought this was a very entertaining historical narrative for the casual history buff like myself.

As a Dutchman I have to say that, in my entire and long life, I have never - ever - read a single book that was so factually inaccurate with blatant errors and misinterpretations on virtually every single page!

Has a Dutch person ever read this piece of manure before it went to press? Obviously the authors - both non-Dutch (why? they couldn't find a local [out of 14 million people?] to write this?) have absolutely no idea what nonsense they are ejaculating on page and after page. This is self-evident from the notes about the authors on pages 220 and 221: "Hunt Janin (an American) `visits the Netherlands frequently' while Ria van Eil has obviously spent way too much time abroad to have kept an accurate finger on the pulse).

This "guide" is absolutely rubbish and I grieve for the trees that had to die for this pathetic attempt. I can only shudder at the credibility level of the other volumes.

This book appears to be at least several years out of date. If the Dutch were ever truly tolerant, they aren't anymore. The book states that the visitor will quickly find that the Dutch love foreign visitors, foreign languages, etc.... The Dutch have become a patently intolerant bunch. But if you think about it, tolerance is only putting up with someone from outside. They've gone from putting up with outsiders to despising them, and wanting most of them gone since the death of Theo van Gogh. This book paints an unrealistically naive, and positive view that doesn't fit with the reality of life in The Netherlands today. That is for those of us who weren't born here, who have accents, or are visibly "different."

I read this book before a recent trip to Holland to meet my boyfriends' family. It was really helpful. It provided some basic insights into Dutch culture that differ from American culture. After the 10 day visit, I feel as if the book helped me understand the behavior of the Dutch people I met. My only complaint would be the book's claim that the Dutch are extremely friendly. This is only partially true. They are incredibly warm and welcoming if you are introduced to them by another Dutch citizen. Random people on the streets were really not welcoming or helpful at all.

This series of books is so fabulous if you want to get to know the country you are visiting, not only if you want to move there but also if you just love to learn more than the surface of a country on your two week vacation. Great to read before and after a visit to the Netherlands. I learnt so much in this book that would have taken me months, years to learn by actually being in the country. Excellent resource.

this book should be red by all people that plan on visiting the netherlands.
as dutch person i looked in it (it was a gift) and it is very truthfull

Wasnt a very good or useful book. Didn't have a lot of the practical stuff in it!

Just got back from Amsterdam and had taken this book (along with others) with me. This book was far from the helpful book I had been hoping. It wasn't 'irreverent' really and seemed to miss a lot of good information. It also wasn't presented very well.

I do not recommend this...

This is not a typical travel book with all the standard info you'd find. It's best to be a supplement book (in conjunction to a "standard" one) providing info only the locals know-the un-offical stories. Excellent book.

I purchase this because I thought I would get more info then I could get from the website. It really was not what I was expecting. It does have good maps in it but that is about all it is good for.

This is a fantastic guide book. Easy to follow, enjoyable to read and full of wonderful information. Like another reviewer said, it is like being taken around by a savvy local. Highly reccommended!

After years of visiting family in the Netherlands and visiting obvious tourist attractions, I felt it was time to find a guide to help me unearth those not so noticeable sights. I quickly discovered that it was challenging to locate a book that focuses solely on the Netherlands. Then I stumbled upon the Rough Guide to the Netherlands. I thought I had finally discovered the ideal comprehensive Dutch travel book. But after opening the beautifully photographed cover, I dove into the introduction only to find the following statement, "Indeed for such a small and accessible country, the Netherlands is, apart from Amsterdam, relatively unknown territory." Unfortunately, I did not find that this book helped to dispel this myth and encourage travel anywhere outside of Amsterdam.

By the tone of the writing, it felt as though the writer(s) had a negative image of this country even before writing a sentence. They overlooked many of the quaint, personal aspects of this country, as well as many of the attractions that I considered obvious places to visit. I was able to attain more useful information about cities in the Netherlands from my outdated copy of Let's Go Europe 1994, which covers information on over a dozen countries in just one book.

In the back of the Rough Guide, there is a section of assorted English/Dutch translations, which can be extremely helpful for travelers. They list simple terms like hello, good-bye, thank you, etc and important translations for questions like, "where is the bathroom?"

If you are looking for a travel book to list a handful of plain-as-the-nose-on-your-face attractions in Amsterdam, then you found your book. If you are looking for an all-inclusive guide to aid your explorations throughout the Netherlands, this is not it. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this review, I have not found a book I can recommend and I am also sad to say this is the first book that I will return to Amazon.

It is always dangerous to criticize a travel guide to a place you have always lived, but reading this guide once again confronted me with the prevailing prejudice that Holland (the Netherlands) equals Amsterdam. Allow me to let you in on a little secret: it doesn't.
Personally, I don't care for Amsterdam that much: much of it is a noisy, messy, tourist trap filled with people you would prefer to avoid. Outside the capital life is generally much more gentle. However, there is enough hustle and bustle to be found in the nightlife of Rotterdam, Utrecht, or Groningen.
The problem is that you are unlikely to experience those places after having read this guide. Often it reads like an extension of the RG to Amsterdam, showing an unwillingness on the part of the researches to take the long one-hour train journey to Utrecht or Rotterdam and take in those places. Although I generally prefer this series over Lonely Planet, my advice is to take the 'other' guide to the Netherlands if you're really interested in travelling outside Amsterdam

I discovered The Rough Guide series last year when I was dazzled by their guide to Thailand. By comparing the Holland version to that one, however, I'd say TRG has dropped the ball in The Netherlands. Whereas TRG Thailand approaches its subject at a subdued level of wonder, the Holland writers seem to have gone about their itinerary by suppressing their interest in anything outside of Amsterdam or art museums. Forget subdued, it's as if the authors burned out in the capital, and a mummified expedition dragged their feet through the polders out of a need to comply with the terms of their contract. Humbug quotes from famous writers set the tone for chapters on cities they dislike. Many of the towns they cover are evaluated with Amsterdam as their benchmark: Utrecht - "just a half-hour from Amsterdam, all the brashness and vitality of the capital is absent;" The Hague - "[the city's] older buildings are a rather modest collection with little of Amsterdam's flamboyance." A measly six pages are devoted to Rotterdam, none of which mention the city's uppermost nightlife (for the sake of comparison, Michelin's guide gives Rotterdam twenty). Furthermore, parks and recreation get little or no air time. Nothing is mentioned in the way of The Hague's many forests and dune parks. If you obeyed only this guide, you wouldn't know that sky diving, among other sports, is offered in the Frisian Islands.

I do enjoy the voice of the Rough Guides, that of a discerning traveller, and the gray informational sections detailing national custom are usually right on target. As expected, each of these signature features can be found here. But if you want a comprehensive guide to The Netherlands, for recreation & nightlife as well as Amsterdam & museums, you might look elsewhere. I'd start with Michelin.

This is the closest thing out there to my ideal guide. The authors really did their research, and it showed in the copious amounts of background info for each city and region. Listings for lodging, restaurants and attractions were scrupulously accurate. The Rough Guide does not have as much of a budget focus as Let's Go; it does list inexpensive places to stay, but has a little bit of a tendency to sneer at them. The only drawback for me was that the authors' taste is more boyish and more upscale than mine. They like military and shipping museums and dungeons a lot, and are a little too harsh on places they find kitschy or dull. Nevertheless, I'm glad I brought this guide along. It made my trip much more enjoyable and did a lot for my peace of mind.