THE DUKE

by Richard Aldington ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

An important historical biography, and one which should take a permanent place in the library of the period. The Duke of Wellington has been generally considered a rather cold and inhuman figure; Aldington, while not succeeding in creating a warm personality, has at least given him substance and flesh and blood humanity. He has expanded the background against which he lived, given a sense of period, of personalities, historical and otherwise. He has traced wellington through successive steps of education and training, -- an unsympathetic home background, schooling, training for a military career in which he unexpectedly distinguished himself from the start, India, the too often misrepresented Peninsula Wars in Portugal and Spain, and Waterloo. Then a hero's return -- and a checkered career in Parliament, in the foreign office, in diplomacy, during a period when even the most devoted public servant could have little but scorn for his king. Wellington's popularity ebbed and flowed -- he fought certain reforms and backed others -- seemed at times a reactionary, at other times liberal. His personal life plays a minor role in this record, and -- one may assume -- in this career -- for his marriage, postponed until its spontaneity was lost, proved a disappointment, and his children grew up in the years of his foreign service. Sell to the same market that bought the Malborough; sell to collectors of Napoleona. Public libraries. While not written in a deliberately popularized style, this is a distinguished biography, and a distinguished piece of writing.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 1163453013

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943

Categories: NONFICTION