Publisher’s presentation
Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, was the outstanding British individual of the nineteenth century. His victories at Seringapatam and Assaye extended British control in India and his famous campaign in Spain and Portugal helped to drive Napoleon into exile. Wellington is, of course, mostly remembered for defeating Napoleon at Waterloo and his prestige after that epoch-changing event saw him becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain on two occasions.
These are the commonly-known facts about the Iron Duke, but in this remarkable investigation into the life of Britain’s greatest general, we learn so much more about Wellington as a person, through the objects, large and small, that marked key episodes in his personal, military and public life. Renowned historian Gareth Glover details Wellington’s family background in Ireland, his early military career, his one-and-only meeting with Nelson, his campaigns in Flanders, the Iberian Peninsula and Waterloo. What we also learn is of his difficult marriage – and his scandalous womanizing, even bedding the same woman as Napoleon – and his strained relationship with his two boys.
His political career was a controversial one, including his fight to pass the Catholic Emancipation Bill and of a period of three months when he ran the government by himself because he refused to appoint any Cabinet ministers!
Packed with more than 200 full-color photographs, The Duke of Wellington in 100 Objects will show the world the objects he touched, or which touched him, in the life of one of the most outstanding characters Britain has ever produced.