Souvenir Hunting on the Battlefield of Waterloo

Napoleon’s historic defeat at Waterloo was closely followed by a second invasion: a wave of British tourists. The victory was immediately canonized into national myth, and everyone wanted to see the plain of Britannia’s triumph. Thackeray wrote that ships were “sailing every day, filled with men of fashion and ladies of note… going not so much to a war as to a fashionable tour.”

Even if you couldn’t afford the trip, history was brought home to you. Napoleon’s carriage was taken on a tour...