William II of the Netherlands

1792–1849

William II of the Netherlands was prince of Orange during the Napoleonic Wars and later king of the Netherlands from 1840 to 1849. As a young commander he fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo, where he was wounded, and he later took part in campaigns connected with the Belgian Revolution. In 1848 he accepted constitutional reforms that sharply reduced direct royal power.

As the Prince of Orange, the future William II is a conspicuous character in Georgette Heyer’s An Infamous Army, which portrays the Brussels season and the Waterloo campaign. The novel reflects the contemporary British criticism of his battlefield judgement while placing him among the allied commanders around Wellington.

Allan Mallinson’s A Close Run Thing places William II of the Netherlands within a narrative shaped by military command and battlefield decision-making, political ambition and government, and family, marriage and personal loyalty. Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe’s Waterloo is set in June 1815, Sharpe is serving on the staff of the Prince of Orange when Napoleon’s return brings the allied armies into battle at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. Other novels featuring William II of the Netherlands include Allan Mallinson’s Words of Command.

Historical context

Historical periods linked to William II of the Netherlands

Peninsular War 1807–1814 CE Waterloo Campaign 1815-06

Series

Series featuring William II of the Netherlands (2 series)

Sharpe in Order

by Bernard Cornwell 26 books 4.3

Sharpe’s Waterloo

4.3

Sharpe’s Assassin

4.4

Sharpe’s Devil

4.1

Matthew Hervey in Order

by Allan Mallinson 14 books 4.2

The Matthew Hervey novels follow an English cavalry officer from the final campaign against Napoleon into the unsettled decades after Waterloo. Beginning as a young cornet in the 6th Light Dragoons, Hervey advances through command while trying to reconcile professional duty, personal honour, family obligations and the often…

All books in this series