Wellington: A Personal History

Wellington: A Personal History
Christopher Hibbert

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.

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_b8949847-58ab-539c-b9dd-e48e264e49dd)

William The 4th

A division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 1997

Copyright © Christopher Hibbert 1997

Christopher Hibbert asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780586091098

Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2010 ISBN: 9780007406944

Version: 2016-09-08

DEDICATION (#ulink_6e586782-20e4-5f64-a5e9-c25bef0f34cb)

For Pam Carpenter

With Love

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

List of Illustrations

Author’s Note and Acknowledgements

Maps

PART I • 1769–1815 (#ulink_5c294a7b-4be9-5686-9c74-bf85bb30e1b2)

1 Eton, Dublin and Angers, 1769–87 (#ulink_aa3d22bd-2841-5501-9bb0-a9aedc1e4ce9)

2 An Officer in the 33rd, 1787–93 (#ulink_80c2ac05-8fe4-5373-aaf6-2fa3250854bc)

3 The First Campaign, 1794–5 (#ulink_71ad2bb1-9713-594c-87c6-71353654b659)

4 A Voyage to India, 1796–8 (#ulink_461a6a0c-9e03-5004-a554-8abd85b6abb2)

5 The Tiger of Mysore, 1799 (#ulink_0571038a-50dd-564d-883c-1f2d075cf1c5)

6 The Governor of Mysore, 1799 (#ulink_c9085563-f05b-567f-acea-246c6a7d23a7)

7 The Sultan’s Palace, 1800–1 (#ulink_cd594167-6a79-538c-a99b-36c61cb6581c)

8 Assaye, 1802–5 (#ulink_90be0340-492c-59fb-ac2e-faa0c1b41a3e)

9 Return to London, 1805–6 (#ulink_dbaa2cb4-ebdd-5e25-ac1c-d71c09717399)

10 Kitty Pakenham, 1790–1806 (#ulink_085e3456-6777-5377-9ba6-6331c33d5004)

11 Ireland and Denmark, 1806–7 (#ulink_05735634-f591-52e4-b6e4-99663fadbd4b)

12 Portugal, 1808 (#ulink_0d0c3818-2391-56d5-b3ac-8807b1c807a0)

13 Board of Enquiry, 1808 (#ulink_29428766-76bd-55c1-8c5c-627fd1f7fdd6)

14 Across the Douro, 1809 (#ulink_3e6ae053-559b-5031-a99c-ce48640f3943)

15 ‘A Whole Host of Marshals’, 1809–10 (#ulink_4320e940-066b-5c16-ae00-6a43eed69fe2)

16 From Bussaco to El Bodon, 1810–11 (#ulink_2f1ce34c-724b-55f6-a396-6b3753d07c2d)

17 Life at Headquarters, 1810–12 (#ulink_df775dd7-dc00-55c5-897d-29232d6ba6be)

18 Badajoz, Salamanca and Madrid, 1812 (#ulink_e78cc397-4949-56f0-ba48-59e6aa48c4b6)

19 Retreat to Portugal, 1812 (#litres_trial_promo)

20 From Vitoria to the Frontier, 1812–13 (#litres_trial_promo)

21 St Jean de Luz, 1813 (#litres_trial_promo)

22 In London Again, 1814 (#litres_trial_promo)

23 Paris and Vienna, 1814–15 (#litres_trial_promo)

24 Brussels, 1815 (#litres_trial_promo)