Wellington: A Military Life

Extensive thorough comprehensive submersion into all aspects affecting Wellington, including politics, opponents, military structures. At times, captivating, then, on the other hand, tedious in minutiae. Nonetheless, the prodigious research combined with the drafting is extraordinary. Wellington's military genius is evidenced by numerous successes -- his strategies and maneuvers in the chaos of battle were brilliantly orchestrated in a time absent modern advances. Further, he was a uniquely spartan individual, without the narcissistic need to display extraneous decorative ornaments; dressed simply in coat, trousers, tricorn. An indomitable resourceful persona, Wellington remains an inspiration.

Gordon Corrigan's "Wellington-A Military Life" tries hard to find a new niche in the substantial literature about the First Duke of Wellington. "Wellington" is not a standard biography in that Corrigan doesn't spend a lot of pages on Wellington's life away from the military. Nor is it a battle history of Wellington's campaigns, although these are sketched at varying levels of detail in the course of the narrative. Nor is it an operational or strategic level history of the Napoleonic Wars in the manner of Oman or Chandler.Corrigan's approach is to depict Wellington as a military officer in the context of the British Army and of the wars of his time. It seems clear from the narrative and the footnotes that the author is very familiar with the British Army of Wellington's time and of our own. The focus is on Wellington's development as a officer through his experiences in Ireland, Flanders, India, the Peninsula, and the final Campaign of the Hundred Days. Corrigan provides much contextual discussion on the ways in which the British military establishment did its business in that day and age. Corrigan's prose is solid, straightforward, and unvarnished. His narrative is interesting and seems to cover all the major points in an already well-plowed field.It seems clear that Corrigan admires Wellington as a military leader, and the narrative makes the case that Wellington was an exceptionally professional and succcessful military officer, even by the battle-hardened standards of his time. The intent to package Wellington's long military career into a single volume of moderate length means many details must be glossed over and some controversies bypassed, but the author does provide some interesting items for consideration. For example, he asserts that there is no definitive proof that Wellington was ever unfaithful to his wife. This statement is possibly correct in the narrowest sense, although it flies in the face of both a wealth of anecdotes and the judgment of other historians. For another example, Corrigan dismisses much of the academic controversy over the respective generalships of Wellington and Napoleon at Waterloo, by noting that each was ultimately responsible for the conduct of the army each led. Wellington fought a hands-on battle on ground of his own choosing in coordination with his Prussian counterpart; Napoleon gambled much and delegated much, and paid the price.Corrigan offers short but effective bio's of some of the officers with whom Wellington served. His discussion of Sir John Moore, for example, is more nuanced than the usual hagiographic comments; Corrigan brings out Moore's challenges with higher authority, although he does not give full credit for the beneficial strategic results of Moore's aborted campaign in Spain in late 1808, which probably distracted Napoleon from completing the military conquest of Spain.Corrigan's biography of Wellington is a very serviceable one volume history for the general reader and for the military professional looking for a straightforward narrative.

Very readable. Very enjoyable. Packed full of detail. Greatly enjoyed the read, which took me only a few days. Must read.

A great book for its historical value. After reading this I bought a 800 page book on Napoleon, which is also good, but still reading it

A well-written, straight-forward account of Wellington's life.One can see why he has been so honored. While seeminglystiff and work-focused ( friends are scarcely mentioned), itis very interesting to read how he determined to win in theseveral places of his battles. He seems to be a naturalwarring genius.One has to allow for the many place names and constantlyshifting scenes in battles to places you never heard of, butotherwise is it fine.

Very interesting and informativ, well written.

The author writes well and concisely, looking at Wellington's life and battles from the perspective of a serving British army officer. He offers a competent biography but proffers no startling conclusions and no new information. He repeats constantly the old canard about Wellington's armies being the scum of the earth; an army of jailbirds and reprobates kept in line only with the most draconian discipline. This ignores newer information from historians like Carole Divall and Edward Coss who suggest that while many men came from poor backgrounds, very few were actually hardened criminals or men of low character; rather they were simply men lacking economic opportunity. The were surprisingly well behaved and most of their looting was simply stealing food to feed themselves, since their average caloric intake was far too low considering the arduous activities in which they were engaged. He also makes a casual observation that surgeons could generally do an amputation in thirty seconds. That is far too quick. Most surgeons were doing well if they could manage one in ninety seconds. The hardest part of the book to believe is that Wellington stayed faithful to his wife, Kitty. The author quotes Wellington as saying no leave should last longer than three days since no one would want to spend more time than that in bed with a lady, yet wishes us to believe he stayed chaste despite often being seen in the company of women and stating his marriage to Kitty was clearly unhappy. Most other biographers of Wellington believe him to have had a long, if discreet, string of affairs.There is some good out of the way information about uniforms, particularly the fact that though the soldiers wore boots, they were referred to as shoes to differentiate them from cavalry boots. Its a small point, but one that has occasioned some confusion on the part of historians. Not a book for the specialist, but a reasonably good starting point for the generalist.

Very well researched and interesting account of the life and times of Wellington

Gordon Corrigan schildert Wellingtons Leben von bescheidenen Anfängen in Irland als bestenfalls mittelmäßiger Schüler bis zu seinem Tod im Alter von 72 Jahren als gefeierter und verehrter Militärstratege. Schwerpunkt ist natürlich die militärische Karriere von den Anfängen über die Stationen in Indien, Portugal und Spanien bis zum unvermeidlichen Waterloo. Dabei werden die diversen Schlachten eher knapp, aber gut verständlich beschrieben. Der Autor geht nicht nur auf das Militärische ein, sondern auch auf Wellingtons Geschick für Organisation und Logistik sowie die Koordination mit Alliierten. Auch Wellingtons militärische und politische Karriere nach 1815 wird erzählt, vielleicht ein wenig zu kurz.Das Buch bietet einen sehr guten Überblick über das Leben und Schaffen von Arthur Wellington. Es ist gut geschrieben und auch für Nichthistoriker verständlich. Für geschichtlich Interessierte dürfte es mehr als ein guter Einstieg sein.Ich habe es sehr gern gelesen und viel über Wellington und seine Zeit gelernt. Dafür gibt es von mir die volle Punktzahl.

The book provided a lot of detail explaining how his many military successes were achieved with a small often poorly supported army. His drive for good order and discipline and requiring officers to take responsibility is remarkable in an era of entitlement.

A great book, which provides excellent background and historical context. It gives a superb insight into his professional and private life. Only suggestion are more pictures, in the kindle edition there are no maps or images and the language is overly floury in places. But despite this it is an excellent book.

Gave a good look at an important life

Thoroughly enjoyed what is a very well written and researched book. It tells the tale of no ordinary commander, who however also had his weakness as a man.