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Elizabeth Longford

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Wellington: The Years of the Sword Hardcover – January 1, 1996

by Countess of Longford, Elizabeth Harman Pakenham (Author)

4.7 42 ratings

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Hardcover and dust jacket, as pictured; dust jacket has mild edge wear; very mild aging; this is a Book-of-the-Month-Club selection (f-L)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Smithmark Pub; 1st edition (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 885 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0831756462
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0831756468
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,458,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #42,393 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.7 42 ratings

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4.7 out of 5

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Raymond D.

Wellinton, Years of the Sword.

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2014

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Again, the Duke of Wellington was a Hero to the British, but also to the Spanish and Portuguese people, and many Frenchmen who hated Napoleon. The writer of this book comes from Countess Pakenham, and related to Wellington by marriage. Her brother was in the same battles in Spain, Portugal and France. The family is also 'Noble' and have other writers in the family. Thomas Pakenham, who wrote 'The Scramble for Africa' and another brother who is also a writer and best selling author, and wrote The Mountains of Rasselas' of Africa, in Ethiopia. and his sister Valerie Pakenham. The Wellesly and the Pakenham families were closely connected. One can read about Wellington's start as a Member of Parliament, then as a young officer sent to the famous Riding Academy in France, and them a young officer sent to India at the head of a regiment. and see him grow into an excelent field officer.and thenthe wars in India, which really brought him to the fore,as onen of the youngest generals in the Army. Read it yourself, you will not be able to put it down for a nights sleep.

7 people found this helpful

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Mornington

Brilliant biography

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2011

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Sadly no longer in print, this is arguably the best biography of the militay career of Wellington ever written. It folows the development of Arthur Wellesley from an awkward and uncomfortable, untrained young officer through his growth and development in India and the Peninsula War, to his final conquest of Napoleon at Waterloo. The battles are well researched and well presented, providing a fascinating review of warfare of that era.
The book however, is not merely an account of Wellington's military success, but examines the personal life as well and with a far greater insight into his personality than most other biographies, often contradicting the usual portrayal of the man as a cold and unemotional leader.
If you can get hold of a copy ot this book, read it. You will not be disappointed.

10 people found this helpful

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Robert Mark Robinson

Wellington: The Years of the Sword

Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2018

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It has already arrived.

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Nathaniel R. Brown

and is the best (readable, clear

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2018

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The first of two volumes, this covers Wellington's live through Waterloo, and is the best (readable, clear, detailed) one-volume account of the Penninsular campaign and Waterloo I have read.

3 people found this helpful

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Gary W

This is a good book to see the man in his thinking & back stories oo the people around him

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2021

finding the story

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2017

I enjoyed it.

Still worth reading...

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2014

Elizabeth Longford's 1969 biography "Wellington: The Years of the Sword" is a remarkably balanced if now slightly dated portrait of the First Duke of Wellington in his years on active service as an officer in the British Army. Longford is blessed with a highly accessible prose style and an intimate understanding of the class system and social mores of the world in which Wellington lived. Her extensive access to Wellington's personal correspondence permits remarkable insight into his personality, revealing a more complex human being than the stiff, stoic leader of earlier biographies.

What emerges is a portrait of Wellington as, first, a shallow, dreamy young man, then a young and ambitious military officer, and finally as the mature and highly professional general who defeated Napoleon's Marshals in Portugal and Spain, and Napoleon himself at Waterloo.

Longford's coverage of Wellington's battlefield exploits is limited to no more detail than required to advance the narrative and to provide examples of Wellington's leadership style. Where Longford excells is in her insights into the development of Wellington's character. She captures the challenge of Wellington's youth as the middle and seemingly least-talented of several children. She provides a balanced description of Wellington's ambition for opportunities to shine in the British Army in India. She is properly skeptical of some of the accounts of Wellington's alleged womanizing, while her discussion of the Duke's unhappy marriage to Kitty Pakenham is marked by emotional depth and nuance. Longford notes throughout the book the continuing influence of Wellington's family on his development as a person and and on his military career.

This book and a second volume, "Pillar of the State", on Wellington's career in government and politics post-Waterloo are both unfortunately long out of print but continue to influence more recent biographers.

This book is very highly recommended as an excellent and still relevant biography of the First Duke of Wellington's youth and career on active service in the British Army.

4 people found this helpful

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Robert A. Hall

Excellent military & historical biography

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2018

Since this excellent book runs to almost 500 pages, it is for those with a serious interest in military history or historical biography. It is both well-written and well-researched, with great photos. (Of paintings of course.) I knew only that Wellington’s peninsular campaign was a success, but not about individual battles. This book remedied that. And thought I knew a great deal about Waterloo, I discovered many new facets. It covers not only Wellington’s character, and his battles, but the complex political situation he had to deal with, the problems created by his brothers, and the need for reforms in the British army, starting with the way officers were selected. He was the indispensable man; Neither Waterloo nor many of the battles in Spain and Portugal could have been won by anyone else. His tactical brilliance was only matched by his ability to inspire troops to exceed all expectations. My only quibble is that the Countess often uses French phrases without translation, never supposing I guess that it would be read by members of the “lower orders” like myself who were deficient in the language. But this is only a slight distraction. I highly recommend this book.

Robert A. Hall
Author: The Coming Collapse of the American republic

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Eric P

A well-researched and well-written biography of the Iron Duke

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2017

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Found this through Amazon - I first read it when it came out in the 1970's. This is an excellent autobiography written by Lady Longford who was related to the Iron Duke. This volume deals with the period of his life up to Waterloo, and deals with both his military and personal life. When I reached the part where he married Kitty Pakenham, I don't know which of the two I felt more sorry for.
The descriptions of the individual battles are good, but could have had more detail, on the other hand the overall campaign descriptions and the interactions with the other protagonists are excellent. It is interesting how, in reporting the outcome of a battle, the tone of his correspondence could change over a matter of days.
Lady Longford showed here that she was a conscientious historian, with balanced evaluation of source material. As a member of the family she had access to a lot of original letters and manuscripts, not just in the Wellesley family but also those of the Duke's aide, Lord Raglan.
The account is well-written and holds the interest of the reader. I rate it very highly.

2 people found this helpful

K. L. Bain

Well written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2012

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This is a fascinating review of Wellington's earlier military career, written by one of his descendants. I first bought this book as a paperback more years ago than I care to remember, then lent it to a friend and never got it back. I have lent this copy to my daughter, and hope I get it back!

One person found this helpful

Mr. G. J. C. Smelt

Hero

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2013

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He stands as Ireland's contribution to Great Britain.
He wanted a United Kingdom, no party politics, no railways, no reform of suffrage, no poor law, no French domination of Europe; only achieved the last.

One person found this helpful

Charles Pigden

Probably the best biography of Wellington I have read with a particularly ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2017

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Probably the best biography of Wellington I have read with a particularly clear account of Waterloo. One reservation. Lady Longford has a tendency to paraphrase Wellington rather than quoting him at length, which given the quality of his prose, is in my view a mistake. In that respect Hibbert is better.

h cameron

Military genius.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2018

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Fabulous stories about the great man.

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