574pp incl index, references and select bibliography. 16pgs b+w pictures. Pages yellowing from the edges. Unmarked. Binding beginning to loosen.

Wellington’s Years of the Sword ended abruptly while he was still in his prime. Yet such was the power of this extraordinary man to propel himself into the path of great events that the second half of his life was hardly less exciting than the first.

Lady Longford’s first volume of his biography. Wellington: The Years of the Sword was greeted by enormous acclaim. This second volume is a pleasure to read, always lucid, full of new material, sympathetic yet balanced, intelligent, rich in personal details but solid and scholarly too. It succeeds triumphantly in making the Duke of Wellington an unforgettable, appealing and human character.