"Reviewing theories for deployment of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, Black recounts their practical results in the Napoleonic Wars, rating the 1812 Battle of Borodino as the harbinger of Waterloo. In both, Napoleon adopted the frontal assault, but at Waterloo, Black argues, his poor coordination between the infantry and cavalry probably denied the French a victory in the battle's early hours, when the initial attack pierced Wellington's line but was thrown back. If a critic of Napoleon's battlefield decisions, Black is not a facile one; he underscores options available to Napoleon during the daylong carnage's changing tactical situation; they finally vanished when the Prussian army arrived and crushed the French right flank. Black's consideration of Wellington's command performance is equally subtle and supports the British general's pithy quotation of Waterloo as the 'nearest-run thing you ever saw.' Incorporating the international political context, Black's incisive appraisal taps the enduring interest in this ghastly, decisive battle."—Booklist