The first of two ground-breaking volumes on the Waterloo campaign this book is based upon a detailed analysis of sources old & new in four languages It highlights the political stresses between the Allies the problems of feeding & paying for the Allied forces assembling in Belgium during the undeclared war & how a strategy was thrashed out It studies the neglected topic of how the Allies beyond the Rhine hampered the plans of Bl cher & Wellington thus allowing Napoleon to snatch the initiative from them Napoleon s operational plan is likewise analysed & the way in which Soult misinterpreted it & accounts from both sides help provide a vivid impression of the fighting on the first day 15 June This volume ends with the joint battles of Ligny & Quatre Bras the next day