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The Letters of Private Wheeler

An Eyewitness in Action at the Battle of Waterloo (Military Memoirs)

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The Letters of Private Wheeler

By: B.H. Liddell Hart
Narrated by: Roger Davis
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About this listen

These letters, in the form of a frank and amusing diary, were written by a private in Wellington's army who fought throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Private Wheeler's record covers the Peninsular Campaign, keeping order during the coronation of Louis XVIII (whom he called 'an old bloated poltroon') and his later posting to Corfu.

Most of all, Wheeler's account of the historic Battle of Waterloo—written before the muskets of battle had cooled—reveals him to be a master of lively anecdote and mischievous characterisation.

©2022 B.H. Liddell Hart (P)2022 Weidenfeld & Nicolson Europe Great Britain Letters & Correspondence Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence Military Military & War Memoir Napoleon Bonaparte War

Critic reviews

"In a later age he would have become a successful war correspondent.... We have no more human account of the Peninsular War from a participant in all its battles. Vivid images—of people, landscapes, events—flows from his pen.... One of military history's great originals." (John Keegan, Daily Telegraph)
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The narration makes the book very hard to listen to. The narrator seems to pause between every word, the speech can seem very monotone at times and as a result I had to up the reading speed to make it more listenable. The book is also censored for swear words, you will be listening to a letters contents, then suddenly you will hear a ‘beep’ or several ‘beeps’. This was quite off putting and distracting. This book is probably better purchased in paperback format than the audio version. I was looking forward to this title, but overall I struggled to get into it and was disappointed.

Badly narrated

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I was looking forward to this but gave up. The reader's monotonous cadence and odd intonation made it impossible to listen to. Also some idiot has bleeped out words.This is not a children's book and should not have been censored.

Good book ruined by irritating reader

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The droning voice of the narrator is sleep inducing. As for the moron who decided to beep out even the most inoffensive expletives, the jobsworth should be fired on the spot! This narrative could have been amazing. But it’s not. Shame.

MONOTONOUS

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