Customer Reviews

Wellington: A Personal History

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Wellington, I think, is not an easy man to pin down in a biography, and quite a few people have tried to do so in the past. I think Hibbert makes a pretty good stab at this very difficult subject and the worst that could be said about his book is that it is the most recent of the Wellington biographies.

Why is Wellington such a difficult subject? Mostly because he had a long and very active career which spanned a broad range of activities. From rather dreamy and unfocused youth, to extremely focussed, and successful war hero, then finally as politician. Yet underlying this was a man of great contradiction. He had an innate sense of nobility and duty which led him to marry a woman he had not seen for nearly eleven years - yet he treated her appallingly during their marriage. His contradictory nature is also very evident in his career - he hated the very activity in which he made his name, war.

I think Hibbert does a reasonable attempt at coming to grips with Wellington's nature and its contradictions - but I often think the personal side of Wellington - most especially his appalling treatment of his wife and family, are often left unsatisfactorily explained. Probably for three reasons in Hibbert's case - firstly -There is not enough room in 400 pages to fit in everything with sufficient explanation, secondly - there are easier, more public and interesting things to dwell on, and finally I suppose mostly because it would come into the realm of speculation too much. There is little documentary evidence apart from gossip, some letters between Wellington and her, and of course Wellington's infamously indiscreet confessions to Mrs Abuthnot which were later published in her diaries.

I do feel that Hibbert catches much of the public side of Wellington, his love of women, his modesty and quietness and his kindness and loyalty to those loyal to him.

Hibbert has set the book out chronologically and he always makes an easy read of his subjects. Hibbert does muddle up the first and second marchionesses of Salisbury though - he was friends with both - the first Marchioness (also known as Dow Sal) sent him the hunting uniform from her personal hunt. The Duke was good friends with the Second Marchioness, Frances who was also known as the Gascoigne heiress before her marriage.

I do agree with one of the other reviewers on this page, Elizabeth Longford does do a better job of capturing the nature and contradictions of Wellington - but then she can claim some measure of relationship with him - the 1st Duke's wife, Kitty, was a Pakenham which is the Longford family name. Longford does manage to do her biography on the Duke in two substantial volumes. Phillip Guedella has also made a good biography about the man.

'Wellington: A Personal History,' is a wonderful look at the hero of Waterloo. While at times the narrative tends to quickly move over some points in the Duke's life that could do with a bit more analyzation, (the Duke's Indian and Spanish campaigns,) and perhaps relies a little too heavily on reporting court gossip of the time, 'Wellington' nevertheless is a wonderful introduction to the Duke's life written in an entertaining and easy to read style. Where Hibbert's work really succeeds is in it's portrait of the Duke in his years after Waterloo. The look into the Duke as Prime Minister and confedential advisor to George IV, William IV, and Queen Victoria never fail to hold interest and passages reguarding Wellington with his family and children in general are extremly illuminating. The Duke of Wellngton was indeed one of Britain's greatest figures and Hibbert's biography will testify with a great voice to the truth of that.

Author Christopher Hibbert concentrates on the personal aspects of Wellington's career, such as his relationships with family and close friends, and skirts over any lengthy analyses of the Duke's many campaigns. The Battle of Waterloo, for instance, is covered in only a few pages and the entire Peninsula War is given short shrift. Wellington's later years as a Tory politician, however, and his subsequent fall from grace with the populace is presented in detail and makes for quite an interesting read. Portraits of Wellington's brothers and other associates are also abundant in this volume and I was surprised as to how many I've never seen before. Hibbert himself is not totally enamored with his subject and portrays him as a very reticent and reserved aristocrat with little tolerance for fools and even less sympathy for the common folk. In this regard, I don't believe Hibbert has been able to lift the mask of command off Wellington and given us the definite look into his character. Wellington was certainly a man of many contradictions and Hibbert merely presents one side of him---the cold and aloof one. Still it's a worthy book with some scattered information not found in other sources. For the best read on this man, it's probably better for one to start with Elizabeth Longford's "Wellington: Years of the Sword". Hibbert's biography would certainly be a most interesting companion piece alongside it.

I have always thought of the Duke of Wellington as the Hero of Waterloo, but little else. In "Wellington, A Personal History" I learned that he was much more.

This book is, as the title indicates, a personal history of the man, rather than a history of his times. The reader learns little of the details of Waterloo, nor does he learn much about the impact of his career on the wider world.

Wellington's story is an interesting one. Born the younger son of lower nobility, his dukedom was earned, rather than inherited. His career was diverse. He fought for the Crown in India before his first encounter with Napoleon's armies in Portugal and Spain during the Peninsular War. The possibility of service in America during the American Revolution was mentioned, but did not occur. The glory which he won at Waterloo was merely a stepping stone to higher service.

After the banishment of Napoleon, Wellington entered the diplomatic service in France. This, coupled with his membership in the House of Lords, led to service as Foreign Minister and Prime Minister, among many other appointments. In office, Wellington was, generally, a supporter of privilege and order. Despite his dominant conservatism, Wellington was flexible enough to adjust to prevailing necessities. Although initially opposed to Catholic Emancipation, he supported Emancipation after concluding that the defeat of Emancipation would have led to more social unrest than the issue was worth. He then not only had to persuade opinion among the Lords and Commons, but also had to overcome the strong opposition of the King in order to get Emancipation passed. This is of particular interest to me, as family legend has it that we are descendants of Daniel O'Connell, whose election to the House of Commons forced the issue. Jews, whose potential for disorder was presumably less than that of Irish Catholics, did not enjoy his support when Emancipation for them was suggested.

During his political career, Wellington endured wide swings in popularity. At times he faced the threats of the mob as a result of his policies. He was forced to turn his home into a fortress and to carry pistols while traveling about London. Even when his popularity was at its nadir, his prestige and personal presence were sufficient to insure his safety.

Wellington's relations with his monarchs make interesting reading. Although he held George IV and William IV in low esteem, his relationship with Victoria was warm and close. He became an intimate and trusted advisor on whom Victoria and other politicians relied as an intermediatory.

Wellington's marriage was unhappy and distant and he became a widower at a fairly young age. These facts caused him to seek and enjoy the companionship of many women through his lifetime. These relationships and their effects on Wellington account for a large portion of this book.

As is common among heroes, Wellington's popularity grew as his vigor and involvement in public affairs diminished. Living to an advanced age, Wellington was revered as Britain's greatest hero.

I often gauge a book by how it makes me think beyond the covers. I compared him to American political generals. His political career was more impressive than Grant's, and of longer duration than Eisenhower's. The closest comparison may be with Washington, both as his country's greatest hero and the man to whom his country repeatedly turned in crises.

My only disappointment in this book, as minor as it is, is that it is so personal that one gets a sense of his times only indirectly. Overall it is a good study of this major historical figure.

The book assumes that the reader is familiar with the public history of Wellington's life and instead focuses on the personality and temperament of a great English hero. A fascinating insight into the personal side of the public figure that is informative and often humorous. I found it also paints a vivid picture of 19th Century England as seen by the ruling class. Highly recommended.

A complete history of the man, entertaining and readable. I could not put it down.

For anyone interested in the personality and political career of the Duke rather than Waterloo itself (which is given short thrift), this is a very good intro. I also found it helpful in seeing how his early India campaigns shaped his image and ideas on warfare without having to wade through a a massive tome. It hits the spot just right, and makes me hungry for more books on Wellington.

Christopher Hibbert's biography of the first Duke of Wellington is, as advertised, a personal history. His focus is on the man and much less on his long career in the British Army and British political life. His finding, that Wellington was a complex man with a many-sided personality, is not a new discovery. Hibbert's contribution to a crowded field of biographies is to delve into that personality with both enthusiasm and some intellectual discipline in order to put a human face on a distant historical figure.

The first half of the book covers Arthur Wellesley's unpromising youth as the seemingly less talented middle child of an Anglo-Irish nobleman and his familar military career to the Battle of Waterloo. Hibbert skims the military narrative and his analysis is sometimes uneven. For example, he makes rather overmuch of a small skirmish before the assault on Seringapatam in India as a defining experience; but slights later achievements such as Wellington's disciplined and successful defense of Portugal in 1810-1811. He does provide a close examination of Wellington's unfortunate marriage with Kitty Pakenham and his relationships with other women, without necessarily exceeding the spotty factual basis for those relationships.

Hibbert is to be commended for devoting the second half of the book to Wellington's long and often neglected career as politician and public servant. Here, Wellington's well-developed military talents and Tory instincts were often less useful in the indifferent chaos of politics. His relationships, alleged or otherwise, with various women, play a prominent part in Hibbert's treatment.

Ultimately, this book is less satisfying as an examination of Wellington than, for example, Elizabeth Longford's longer but more balanced teatment. Hibbert's account perhaps a little too often reads like the gossip column of the Sunday newspaper.

This book is recommended to those looking for a popular biography of the Duke of Wellington, one suited to contemporary interest in the personal side of public figures.

I read Dr Hibbert's biography of Horatio Lord Nelson and was so impressed by it that I ordered two more of his books. I've just finished reading this one, and I must say that, although I'd never really liked Wellington's often-characterised stiff-upper-lip persona, I found Hibbert's depiction very appealing. It reveals that, even though the marshal created a mask of aloofness and control, behind it he was charming and engaging. Wellington may not have possessed Nelson's instinctive, natural flair but he was solid, reliable, courageous, determined and a good learner. He comes a close second to Nelson as our greatest military hero.

Hibbert's book, as is typically the case with his work, presents a perfectly satisfactory survey level introduction to the Duke's life and times. His writing is fluid and readable and seldom commits the sins of prolixity or obscurity common in much academic history. The tradeoff, unfortunately seems to be a significant lack of depth or interpretation. The reader familiar with Wellington's career will find little new and is far better served with Lady Longford's two volume work which remains the authoritative piece on the subject. Alternatively, Phillip Guedalla's 1931 biography is still available through out of print searches or otherwise and provides a compromise between length and detail.