Wellington

[An] authoritative and enjoyable conclusion to a two-part biography. Muir's treatment of Wellington the general was methodical, but he handles Wellington the politician with flair and, importantly, penetrates his mind . . . This excellent biography should be compulsory reading for all Conservative ministers, MPs and prospective candidates since it will serve to remind them of the value of sober, dispassionate judgement and the duties and disciplines of public service. --Lawrence James, Times (London) After forty years, we finally have a definitive new life of the Duke of Wellington. Rory Muir conveys the military, political, social and personal sides of Wellington's career with equal brilliance. This will be the leading work on the subject for decades. --Andrew Roberts, author of Napoleon and Wellington: The Long Duel Rory Muir is one of the foremost historians of the Napoleonic period. This is the richest biography of the Iron Duke in many years, brimming with originality and not shy of controversy. --John Bew, author of Castlereagh: Enlightenment, War and Tyranny Vivid, engaging and hugely readable. From it emerges a nuanced and well-rounded sense of Wellington the man, military hero, politician and public servant. Readers will gain much insight, knowledge and enjoyment from reading Muir's authoritative portrait of one of the great figures of nineteenth-century Britain. --Angus Hawkins, author of The Forgotten Prime Minister, the 14th Earl of Derby In 1818 the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, offered Wellington a place in his government. The Duke replied with a word of caution which just about summarizes his whole approach to politics. 'The experience which I have acquired during my long service abroad has convinced me that a factious opposition to the government is highly injurious to the interests of the country; and thinking as I do now I could not become a party to such an opposition, and I wish that this may be clearly understood by those persons with whom I am now about to engage as colleagues in government.' The Duke has often been summarized as a brilliant general who was hopeless in politics. Anyone reading Rory Muir's book will have to think this through again. Muir gives a painstaking and brilliant account of the actual Battle of Waterloo - but in his analysis of the difficult years which followed, he argues that the Duke never forgot his guiding principle, that the King's government has to be carried on. --Douglas Hurd, former UK Foreign Secretary and author of Robert Peel