Get Free Shipping on orders over $0
Wellington : A Personal History - Christopher Hibbert

Wellington

A Personal History

By: Christopher Hibbert

Paperback | 2 March 1998

At a Glance

Paperback


$42.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $10.69 with

 or 

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

A bestseller in hardback, this is a highly-praised and much-needed biography of the first Duke of Wellington, concentrating on the personal life of the victor of Waterloo, and based on the fruits of modern research. Christopher Hibbert is Britain's leading popular historian.


Wellington (1769-1852) achieved fame as a soldier fighting the Mahratta in India. His later brilliant generalship fighting the French in Spain and his defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo earned him a dukedom and the award of Apsley House (No. 1, London) and a large estate in Hampshire.

His second career saw him make his mark as a politician with commanding presence. Appointed Commander-in-Chief for life, he became Prime Minister in 1827 and presided over the emancipation of Roman Catholics and the formation of the country's first police force.

Privately, he was unhappily married, and had several mistresses (including two of Napoleon's) and many intimate friendships with women. The private side of the public man has never been so richly delineated as in this masterly biography.

Industry Reviews
Hugely popular biographer of Elizabeth I and Lord Nelson, Hibbert here turns his forensic and literary skills to the Iron Duke. Most books in the years since Elizabeth Longford published her two-volume study have focused on the dazzling military life. Hibbert draws out the intimate friendships with women this seemingly aloof and intimidating man was able to make. Never prurient, Hibbert nevertheless gives a full account of a loveless marriage and the women Wellington turned to for intellectual and not-so-intellectual diversion. The book is studded with memorable anecdotes. The Duke was an unreliable shot and on one occasion wounded a dog, struck a gamekeeper's gaiters and shot Lady Shelley's washerwoman through an open window. When the woman protested her Ladyship told her it ought to be the proudest moment of her life. 'You have the distinction of being shot by the great Duke of Wellington.' A brilliant combination of expert historical analysis and unflagging narrative. (Kirkus UK)

More in Historical, Political and Military Biographies

Careless People : A story of where I used to work - Sarah Wynn-Williams

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Where It All Went Wrong : The case against John Howard - Amy Remeikis
Rasputin : And the Downfall of the Romanovs - Antony Beevor

RRP $55.00

$46.99

15%
OFF
The House of Blue Glass : A life of Penelope Lucas - Alan Atkinson
Abandoned Women : Scottish Convicts Exiled Beyond the Seas - Lucy Frost
Assata : An Autobiography - Assata Shakur

RRP $34.99

$29.99

14%
OFF
PATRIOT - Alexei Navalny

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
The Eagle and the Hart : The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV - Helen Castor
Night : Penguin Modern Classics - Elie Wiesel

RRP $26.99

$15.75

42%
OFF
The Gulag Archipelago : (Abridged edition) - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
The Happiest Man on Earth - Eddie Jaku

RRP $32.99

$26.99

18%
OFF
An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West - Konstantin Kisin
Entitled : The Rise and Fall of the House of York - Andrew Lownie

RRP $37.99

$22.99

39%
OFF