Wellington: The Iron Duke - Softcover

Holmes, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007137508 ISBN 13: 9780007137503

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2003

Synopsis

Richard Holmes, highly acclaimed military historian and broadcaster, tells the exhilarating story of Britain’s greatest-ever soldier, the man who posed the most serious threat to Napoleon. The Duke of Wellington’s remarkable life and extraordinary campaigns are recreated with Holmes’ superb skill in this compelling book.

Richard Holmes charts Wellington’s stellar military career from India to Europe, and in the process, rediscovers the reasons Queen Victoria called him the greatest man the nineteenth century had produced. Combining his astute historical analysis with a semi-biographical examination of Wellington, Holmes artfully illustrates the rapid evolution in military and political thinking of the time.

Wellington is a brilliant figure, idealistic in politics, cynical in love, a wit, a beau, a man of enormous courage often sickened by war. As Richard Holmes charts his progress from a shy, indolent boy to commander-in-chief of the allied forces, he also exposes the Iron Duke as a philanderer, and a man who sometimes despised the men that he led, and was not always in control of his soldiers. Particularly infamous is the bestial rampage of his men after the capture of Cuidad Rodgrigo and Badajoz.

THE IRON DUKE is a beautifully produced book, complete with stunning illustrations and colour plates. Richard Holmes’ TV series to accompany THE IRON DUKE will be lavishly constructed in four parts, and filmed on location in Britain, India, Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium.

About this title

From the Back Cover

In this compelling book – and hugely popular accompanying BBC series – Richard Holmes charts the extraordinary progress of Britain's greatest-ever soldier from the ruins of his family seat in Ireland to the plains of India, where Wellesley first gained his reputation as a brilliant and courageous commander, to the horrors of the Peninsular War and ultimately to Waterloo. Holmes excavates a brilliant figure, idealistic in politics, cynical in love, a wit, a beau, a man of enormous courage and iron duty often sickened by the horrors of war. However, Wellington's journey to greatness and recognition as the man who saved Europe from the tyranny of Napoleon, includes tales of philandering and exposes a man who sometimes despised the men he led, and was not always in control of them.

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON WAS NOT ALWAYS GOOD, BUT HE WAS UNQUESTIONABLY GREAT, AND THIS LIVELY AND INFORMED BOOK IS SOCIAL, MILITARY AND BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY AT ITS FINEST

"Holmes has written the best life of Wellington that there is...Richard Holmes has returned from his long quest with an historical holy grail; the true character of Britain's grittiest soldier."
ANDREW ROBERTS, 'Sunday Telegraph'

About the Author

Richard Holmes was one of Britain’s most distinguished and eminent military historians and broadcasters. For many years Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield University and the Royal Military College of Science, he also taught military history at Sandhurst. He was the author of many best-selling and widely acclaimed books including Redcoat, Tommy, Marlborough and Wellington, and famous for his BBC series such as War Walks, In the Footsteps of Churchill and Wellington. He served in the Territorial Army, retiring as a brigadier and Britain’s most senior reservist, and was Colonel of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment from 1999 to 2007. Richard Holmes died suddenly in April 2011 from pneumonia. He had been suffering from non-Hodgkins’ Lymphoma.Writer and historian Hugh Bicheno is a former intelligence officer and anti-terrorism consultant, who after many years living in the Americas now lives in Cambridge. His previous books include Gettysburg, Midway and Crescent and Cross.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0007137508
• ISBN 13: 9780007137503
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416