Napoleon's Grand British Holiday

Napoleon Bonaparte¿s long reign of terror in Europe was finally brought to an end at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Attempting to flee to America, the fallen emperor surrendered when his ship was intercepted by the British navy. While the Prince Regent considered Napoleon¿s optimistic request to reside in England, the prisoner was held off the Devon coast on the warship HMS Bellerophon. Before the decision was made to send `Boney¿ into exile on St Helena, the celebrity became an instant tourist attraction as thousands of people flocked to the area and took boat trips hoping to catch a glimpse of the infamous `Disturber of the World¿. Newspapers were filled with lurid accounts of the great dictator as he paced the deck of the massive British warship in full view of the boatloads of sightseers. Artists recorded the scene and poets wrote epic verse. Prefaced with a summary of the key campaigns during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, author Mike Holgate takes up the story during the aftermath of the Duke of Wellington¿s momentous victory at Waterloo, recounting public reaction, newsworthy incidents, eye witness accounts and anecdotes recorded during Napoleon¿s fateful two-week mid-summer sojourn in England.