19th Century British History - Victorian Era (1837-1901), British Armed Forces - Biography, 18th Century British History - Georgian Era (1715-1837), Great Britain - Political Biography, Great Britain - Pre-20th Century - Politics & Government, British Arm
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Overview
The Duke of Wellington's funeral in 1852, attended by monarchs and statesmen from all over the world, was a superb piece of pageantry as well as the end of an era. "Since the Duke's death," wrote Charles Greville in his diary five weeks later, "I have nothing worth writing about." A brilliant general, remembered most for his defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, Wellington was also a politician of commanding presence. Elected Prime Minister in 1827, he was an influential adviser to King George IV, William IV, and Queen Victoria, and became deeply involved in all the major scandals of the time, delighting in mixing himself up in other people's affairs. Wellington's public achievements are of lasting significance, but the private man has never been so richly delineated as in Christopher Hibbert's masterly new biography. Celebrated for his sardonic humor, curt comments, and savage rages alternating with irresistible charm, Wellington concealed a deep humanity behind a veneer of hard and intimidating aloofness with strangers and undesired acquaintances that gained him the sobriquet, "the Iron Duke." Unhappily married, he took great pleasure in female company, and enjoyed numerous innocent flirtations as well as adulterous and torrid liaisons, and long and platonic friendships with actresses and courtesans, duchesses, and ladies of fashion.Editorials
Booknews
As suggested by the subtitle, this biography focuses less on the military and political side of the man most famous for his defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, than on his personal side. The author examines Wellington's relationships with friends, his unhappy marriage, and his many platonic and adulterous relationships with women. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.Kirkus Reviews
The prolific Hibbert (Nelson: A Personal History, 1994, etc.) offers a lively if unsurprising portrait of a contentious hero. Arthur Wellesley, later to become the duke of Wellington, took to the trade of soldiering with alacrity, rising to prominence during his long, careful campaign against Napoleon's forces in Spain, and becoming enshrined as a national hero for his victory against the emperor himself at Waterloo. He then chose to plunge into politics, eventually becoming prime minister, in 1827. For several decades Wellington, alternately irascible and charming, arrogant and solicitous, and almost always imperious, dominated the national scene. Hibbert covers Wellington's campaigns with speed and clarity but plunges with enthusiasm into Wellington's years at the center of British politics. It's likely that most readers do not need to know quite so much as they are told here about the nasty particulars of political life in the 1820s and '30s in England. Still, Hibbert does a deft job of marshaling facts and anecdotes. A useful introduction to a complex, powerful figure.Book Details
Published
September 28, 1997
Publisher
Da Capo Press Inc
Pages
460
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780201632323