Wellington and Napoleon: clash of arms, 1807-1815

Wellington and Napoleon tells the story of the convergence and final clash of two of the most brilliant commanders ever to meet on the field of battle. Wellington, his men said, "didn't know how to lose a battle". But Wellington himself admired his adversary:

In Portugal and Spain, Wellington helped wreck Napoleon's Continental System, bled his reserves away and showed the 'unbeatable' French could be beaten after all. The opposing armies, like their commanders, were not at all similar. Napoleon's were large conscript armies, living off the land and led by marshals who rose by merit. Wellington's was a smaller, volunteer force, ruled by the lash though paid, and his officers were those the government chose to send.

It was the British infantryman who made the difference. Napoleon never learned to counter Wellington's infantry, and at the great climax at Waterloo it cost him dear. Even so, the battle was so near-run that, but for luck and the Prussians, history might have taken an altogether different course.