Napoleon and Wellington: The Long Duel - Softcover

Andrew Roberts

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1842127403 ISBN 13: 9781842127407

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2003

Synopsis

pimlico pbk,2003,photos

About this title

Review:

After his provocative Eminent Churchillians and his magisterial, award-winning Salisbury, Andrew Roberts' Napoleon and Wellington moves further back into the past to examine those titans of early 19th-century Europe. One was revolutionary, one deeply conservative. One aimed to change everything, the other aimed to achieve nothing except to stop the other changing anything. Roberts pre-empts the obvious moan regarding this well-tilled field, by pointing out that this is the first book to examine exactly what the two men thought of each other, and revealing the fascinating contradiction between what they said in public and in private. Roberts' cautious, subtle reading of character, and the narrow focus on just two men--not a mention of Rifleman Harris here--gives the book a novelistic brio. Wellington could be every bit as vainglorious as Napoleon, but Napoleon was unforgiving. Wellington saved Napoleon from execution after Waterloo, but Napoleon left money in his will to the man who had tried to assassinate the Duke. And once Napoleon had gone, Wellington amassed endless trophies of his great enemy--including not one but two of the Emperor's mistresses. Roberts' wry comment: "To sleep with one of Napoleon's mistresses might be considered an accident, but to sleep with two might suggest a pattern of triumphalism..." English readers, who have long lived with the notoriously bitchy comment from another of Wellington's mistresses, that one of their greatest national heroes was, in bed at least, "a cold fish," will be delighted to hear a second opinion from one of these ex-Imperial bed-warmers, that compared to Napoleon, Wellington was "beaucoup le plus fort". So there. Roberts is witty as well as wise, with chapter titles such as "The War for Clio's Ear". And he ends on a provocative, characteristically Euro-sceptic note: Wellington may have won at Waterloo, but today's "politically united Europe led by a centralised (French-led) bureaucracy", represents a final triumph for the Napoleonic vision... touché. --Christopher Hart

Review:

The book is thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully written and meticulously researched (Jason Bourke OBSERVER)

It is one of Andrew Roberts's merits that, as well as being intelligent, hard-working and opinionated, he gets great fun out of his writing. His books are consequently not only genuinely important but also a pleasure to read (Philip Ziegler DAILY TELEGRAPH)

This is narrative history, readable, well-researched and lively as dry champagne (Jane Ridley SPECTATOR)

Andrew Roberts, the political biographer whose life of Lord Salisbury won him the Wolfson Prize for 1999, now brings the same qualities of insight and judgment to the field of military history (Correlli Barnett SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

He writes so well that his new book will find a ready audience among admirers of both his protagonists (Max Hastings EVENING STANDARD)

Andrew Roberts' excellent book strips away the clichéd public statements and looks at the real relationship between the two greatest commanders of their age. It is a fascinating tale. The core of this splendid and thoughtful book is ultimately his judgement on the two men and their record (David Chandler RUSI JOURNAL)

Andrew Roberts has entered the lists of Napoleonic historians, tilted at champions and sent many away with bruised and broken bones. Some of them may never recover (Allan Mallinson THE TIMES)

A must-have for anyone interested in Napoleonic history, Napoleon and Wellington is an easy read, containing a wealth of information. Highly recommended, this work is destined to become a classic (NAPOLEONIC ALLIANCE GAZETTE)

Roberts sets out to explore each man's contrasting qualities and their opinion of each other. In the process he has uncovered a number of corporeal connections: some enchanting, some mysterious, and others unsavoury (Roger Hutchinson THE SCOTSMAN)

Roberts does his best throughout this thoughtful and absorbing book to hold the balance between his protagonists both as soldiers and men (TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT)

About this edition

• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1842127403
• ISBN 13: 9781842127407
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448