Napoleon & Wellington
Reviews
| UK Reviews: |
Chosen as Book of the Year by:
John Crossland, Sunday Times
Sarah Bradford, Independent
Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph
Eric Jacobs, The Times
Nicholas Fearn, Independent on Sunday
Melvyn Bragg, BBC History Magazine
Antonia Fraser, Irish Times
Iain Duncan Smith, Sunday Telegraph
Paul Johnson, Sunday Telegraph
Peter Lewis, Daily Mail
Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph
'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 judgment on the two men and their record.' David Chandler RUSI
Journal
'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 The Sunday Telegraph
'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 The Daily Telegraph
'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
'Well written and well organised, his study of the relationship between the emperor and the Duke of Wellington is as entertaining as it is instructive, and is original and judicious both as military and personal history.' Christopher Hibbert The Sunday Times
'Roberts does his best throughout this thoughtful and absorbing book to hold the balance between his protagonists both as soldiers and men.' John Spurling The Times Literary Supplement
'He writes so well that his new book will find a ready audience among admirers of both his protagonists.' Max Hastings The Evening Standard
'Roberts has assembled a rare wealth of material, and his love for his venture is evident.' George Lucas The Financial Times
'The book is thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully written and meticulously researched.' Jason Bourke The Observer
'This is narrative history, readable, well-researched
and lively as dry
champagne.' Jane Ridley The Spectator
'Andrew Roberts may remind one of the young Bonaparte - only wielding a pen rather than a cannon.' Claus von Bulow The Literary Review
'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.' The 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 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
'This brilliant double portrait.' Philip Mansel The Mail on Sunday
'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 The Yorkshire Post
'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
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
'Andrew Roberts has given us a double biography, written with tremendous pace and verve.' Desmond Seward BBC History Magazine
'Truly a brilliant work, sparkling with the reflected fascination of the subject interspersed with the judicious comments of the author.' Jeremy Black History Today
'Roberts gives his reader a wonderful account of a relationship that occurred in two men's heads.' Timothy Wilson-Smith The Tablet
'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
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REVIEWS
OF THE AMERICAN EDITION, ‘THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO AND THE GREAT COMMANDERS WHO FOUGHT IT’ (SIMON & SCHUSTER) |
'Andrew Roberts has justly made a reputation for himself as one of today’s leading young British historians, the author of biographies of Lord Salisbury and Lord Halifax. Now one feels Mr Roberts is enjoying the repos du guérrier, and he shares his enjoyment most pleasurably with the reader.’ Alistair Horne The Wall Street Journal
‘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, The Washington Post
'Roberts is an excellent writer, with a thorough knowledge of the mass of literature pertinent to his difficult subject. His understanding is as good as his knowledge.’ John Lukacs The Los Angeles Times
‘Roberts, one of Britain’s most talented and stylish young historians has written a brilliant work.’ Benjamin Schwarz The Atlantic Monthly
‘Roberts’ subtle comparisons [of Wellington] with the more mercurial, exciting – and less moral – Napoleon achieve their affect.’ Benjamin Schwarz The New Criterion
‘Readers interested in the rivalries of the period will find it thoroughly absorbing.’ Publishers Weekly
‘The shelves groan complainingly with studies of the Iron Duke and the Little Corporal. Room should be found for this one.’ Kirkus Reviews
