Richard Holmes highly acclaimed military historian & broadcaster tells the exhilarating story of Britain's greatest-ever soldier the man who posed the most serious threat to Napoleon. The Duke of Wellington's remarkable life & extraordinary campaigns are recreated with Holmes' superb skill in this compelling book. Richard Holmes charts Wellington's stellar military career from India to Europe & in the process rediscovers the reasons Queen Victoria called him the greatest man the nineteenth century had produced. Combining his astute historical analysis with a semi-biographical examination of Wellington Holmes artfully illustrates the rapid evolution in military & political thinking of the time. Wellington is a brilliant figure idealistic in politics cynical in love a wit a beau a man of enormous courage often sickened by war. As Richard Holmes charts his progress from a shy indolent boy to commander-in-chief of the allied forces he also exposes the Iron Duke as a philanderer & a man who sometimes despised the men that he led & was not always in control of his soldiers. Particularly infamous is the bestial rampage of his men after the capture of Cuidad Rodgrigo & Badajoz. THE IRON DUKE is a beautifully produced book complete with stunning illustrations & colour plates. Richard Holmes' TV series to accompany THE IRON DUKE will be lavishly constructed in four parts & filmed on location in Britain India Spain Portugal France & Belgium.