Napoleon and Wellington

On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, the Emperor Napoleon declared that the Duke of Wellington was a bad general, the British were bad soldiers and that France could not fail to win an easy victory. Forever afterwards historians have accused him of gross overconfidence, and massively underestimating the calibre of the British commander opposed to him. Andrew Roberts presents an original, highly revisionist view of the relationship between the two greatest captains of their age. Napoleon, who was born in the same year as Wellington - 1769 - fought Wellington by proxy years earlier in the Peninsula War, praising his ruthlessness in private while publicly deriding him as a mere 'sepoy general'. In contrast, Wellington publicly lauded Napoleon, saying that his presence on a battlefield was worth forty thousand men, but privately wrote long memoranda lambasting Napoleon's campaigning techniques. Although Wellington saved Napoleon from execution after Waterloo, Napoleon left money in hi s will to the man who had tried to assassinate Wellington. Wellington in turn amassed a series of Napoleonic trophies of his great victory, even sleeping with two of the Emperor's mistresses. The constantly changing relationship between these two nineteenth-century giants forms the basis of Andrew Roberts' compelling study in pride, rivalry, propaganda, nostalgia, and posthumous revenge.

“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
Roberts has assembled a rare wealth of material, and his love for his venture is evident -- George Lucas FINANCIAL TIMES
[A] brilliant double portrait -- Philip Mansel MAIL ON SUNDAY
Roberts offers a master class in how to write a historical magnum opus; filled with anecdotes and observations to inform and entertain the general reader, yet with the structure and academic rigour to satisfy the most demanding Napoleonic scholar ... intellectual tour de force -- Frank Harris WATERSTONE'S QUARTERLY
What Mr Roberts has done so admirably is uncover the human responses between two men who might otherwise be just dry political or military figures, and he has added a new and valuable dimension to our understanding of the Napoleonic age in doing so -- Simon Heffer COUNTRY LIFE
History has just replaced cooking and gardening as the sexiest and most bankable contemporary subject in publishing. If that is so, the prolific and consistently brilliant historian Andrew Roberts must take much of the credit -- Robert Beaumont YORKSHIRE POST
Andrew Roberts's Napoleon and Wellington draws us right into the minds of two of the world's greatest generals. Roberts is an excellent non-academic historian -- Melvyn Bragg BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
Truly a brilliant work, sparkling with the reflected fascination of the subject interspersed with the judicious comments of the author -- Jeremy Black HISTORY TODAY
In Roberts' sensitive hands the two men come fully alive, along with their campaigns and their battles. He understands military matters as he does human - a rare accomplishment -- Eric Jacobs Broadway HAM AND HIGH
Roberts gives his reader a wonderful account of a relationship that occurred in two men's heads -- Timothy Wilson-Smith THE TABLET
Andrew Roberts has given us a double biography, written with tremendous pace and verve -- Desmond Seward BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE
Roberts has done the study of the Napoleonic era a tremendous amount of good by opening up the minds of the rivals to public gaze. It is true to say that having read Napoleon and Wellington, you will look at the great struggle in a very different light -- Richard Moore THE NAPOLEONIC GUIDE
What Roberts has delivered is a thoughtful, witty and authoritative study that focuses on the relationship between the two great soldiers and how they regarded each other, as soldiers and as men -- Richard Pearson WASHINGTON POST

Andrew Roberts took a first in Modern History at Cambridge. He has been a professional historian since the publication of his life of Lord Halifax, The Holy Fox, in 1991. He contributes regularly to The Sunday Telegraph and lives in Chelsea, London, with his family. His new book Hitler and Churchill is published in May 2003.

On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, the Emperor Napoleon declared that the Duke of Wellington was a bad general, the British were bad soldiers and that France could not fail to win an easy victory. Forever afterwards historians have accused him of gross overconfidence, and massively underestimating the calibre of the British commander opposed to him. Andrew Roberts presents an original, highly revisionist view of the relationship between the two greatest captains of their age. Napoleon, who was born in the same year as Wellington - 1769 - fought Wellington by proxy years earlier in the Peninsula War, praising his ruthlessness in private while publicly deriding him as a mere 'sepoy general'. In contrast, Wellington publicly lauded Napoleon, saying that his presence on a battlefield was worth forty thousand men, but privately wrote long memoranda lambasting Napoleon's campaigning techniques. Although Wellington saved Napoleon from execution after Waterloo, Napoleon left money in hi s will to the man who had tried to assassinate Wellington. Wellington in turn amassed a series of Napoleonic trophies of his great victory, even sleeping with two of the Emperor's mistresses. The constantly changing relationship between these two nineteenth-century giants forms the basis of Andrew Roberts' compelling study in pride, rivalry, propaganda, nostalgia, and posthumous revenge.

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