Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
35 used & new from $9.76

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Wellington: The Iron Duke
 
See larger image
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

Wellington: The Iron Duke (Paperback)

by Richard Holmes (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

List Price: $19.95
Price: $13.57 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $6.38 (32%)
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Tuesday, July 7? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
23 new from $9.76 12 used from $9.76
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 13 used & new from $6.13

Frequently Bought Together

Wellington: The Iron Duke + Wellington: A Personal History + The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson
Price For All Three: $44.04

Show availability and shipping details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket

Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket

by Richard Holmes
4.8 out of 5 stars (8)  $23.96
The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson

The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson

by Roger Knight
4.6 out of 5 stars (13)  $8.47
Wellington's Rifles: Six Years to Waterloo with England's Legendary Sharpshooters

Wellington's Rifles: Six Years to Waterloo with England's Legendary Sharpshooters

by Mark Urban
4.7 out of 5 stars (13)  $17.82
Agincourt: A Novel

Agincourt: A Novel

by Bernard Cornwell
3.9 out of 5 stars (78)  $18.47
Sahib: The British Soldier in India 1750-1914

Sahib: The British Soldier in India 1750-1914

by Richard Holmes
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  $13.57
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review
"In Holmes' surprisingly revisionist view, Wellington emerges as far better soldier than he was a loveable individual." -- The Times

Product Description
In this compelling biography, Richard Holmes charts the life of the Duke of Wellington, Britain's greatest soldier. He follows Wellington's remarkable career, from the ruins of his family seat in Ireland and the plains of India where he first gained his reputation as a brilliant commander, to the horrors of the Peninsular War and Waterloo. Holmes sees Wellington as a brilliant figure, idealistic in politics, cynical in love, a man of enormous courage and iron duty often sickened by the horrors of war.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins UK (February 1, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0007137508
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007137503
  • Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #262,338 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Wellington: The Iron Duke
72% buy the item featured on this page:
Wellington: The Iron Duke 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
$13.57
Wellington: A Personal History
12% buy
Wellington: A Personal History 3.3 out of 5 stars (16)
$22.00
Wellington: Pillar of State
7% buy
Wellington: Pillar of State 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
Wellington
4% buy
Wellington 2.0 out of 5 stars (2)

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Quality Popular Biography of the Iron Duke, March 12, 2005
Richard Holmes's "Wellington - The Iron Duke" is a well-written survey of the active life of the First Duke of Wellington. In just 300 pages, Holmes presents a balanced, even nuanced view of a man who was both the quintessential military professional and a complex human being. Through Holmes' efficient prose, we see Wellington as an extradinarily dedicated soldier who mastered his profession in ways few of his contemporaries did, yet who sometimes paid a price on campaign for his insistence on micromanaging his armies. Wellington comes across as a remarkably honest and duty-bound public servant; as a young man, he was also relentlessly ambitious, and as an older man, sensitive about his military reputation.

Holmes provides some useful insights. He suggests that exhaustion and strain were responsible for Wellington's uncharacteristically poor performance at the Siege of Burgos in 1812. Holmes examines the academic dispute over Wellington's relationship with the Prussians during the Waterloo Campaign; he tellingly notes Wellington's responsibilities to his alliance partners and to the British Government and finds that he served both. Holmes acknowledges Wellington's extramaritial activities but resists the urge to obsess over them or to indulge in psycological speculation.

Serious students of the Duke and of the Napoleonic Wars will find no new scholarship here; indeed, Holmes readily acknowledges his debt to earlier works such as Elizabeth Longford's exceptional biography and Jac Weller's battlefield narrative trilogy. Holmes has provided an accessible biography for the general reader, supported by well-chosen quotes from the Duke' contemporaries and by a nice selection of illustrations.

This book is highly recommended to the general reader with an interest in the man and the era.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Wellington: warts and all!, January 12, 2004
This is one of those books that once you take it up, you can't put it down!

Its balanced treatment of Wellington the man, the military man and the politican, has meant that this is not just a book about Waterloo.

One is left with the impression that Wellington was a great man, with equal weight given to his 'greatness' and his 'humanness'.

Very readable and highly recommended.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A good book about a great man, warts included, July 2, 2003
By physics student "visviva" (St. John's, Newfoundland Canada) - See all my reviews
The book aims to be realistic - the fog of
war is foggy indeed, and Wellington sometimes makes mistakes. The
casualties at Waterloo are appalling, and the battle almost lost.
Lt.-Col. Trant of "Sharpe's Rangers" fame actually appears, an excellent soldier but "the most drunken dog there ever was" in Wellington's words.

Unusual is the emphasis on Wellington's Indian campaign and on the
Peninsular War - the period of Sharpe's Rangers is the most important in
the book. The Battle of Waterloo is treated as somewhat of an
afterthought, as I suppose it was (if Nap had won it would have been a
very different matter, of course). There are a number of good plates,
including a daguerrotype of the Iron Duke himself in his mid-70s, looking
buth shrewd and oddly sympathetic.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable biography, but a bit irritating!
Richard Holmes is an eminent historian and a splendid TV presenter but, though I found his study of the great Duke of Wellington an enjoyable biography that I couldn't put down... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Geoffrey Woollard

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


   


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Help us improve this fledgling article by editing it on Amapedia.com opens new browser window




Look for Similar Items by Category


Free Songs, Cheap Albums
Special MP3 Deals
Visit our Special Deals Store to find ultra-low prices on great albums, daily deals, and over 500 free songs.

Shop now

 

Best Books of 2008

Best of 2008
Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.
 

Summer Reading for Kids & Teens

Summer Reading for Kids and Teens
Discover everything from beach reads and board books to teen romance and action-adventure series in Summer Reading for Kids & Teens. And, check off the kids' required reading lists in our Summer School Reading Store.
 

The Workhorse of the Woodshop

Shop for table saws
As the most versatile machine in the workshop, a good table saw is necessary for any woodworker.

Shop for table saws

 

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates