On Wellington

The Battle of Waterloo has been studied and dissected so extensively that one might assume little more on the subject could be discovered. Now historian Peter Hofschrer brings forward a long-repressed commentary written by Carl von Clausewitz, the author of On War.Clausewitz, the Western worlds most renowned military theorist, participated in the Waterloo campaign as a senior staff officer in the Prussian army. His appraisal, offered here in an up-to-date and readable translation, criticized the Duke of Wellingtons actions. Lord Liverpool sent his translation of the manuscript to Wellington, who pronounced it a lying work. The translated commentary was quickly buried in Wellingtons private papers, where it languished for a century and a half. Now published for the first time in English, Hofschrer brings Clausewitzs critique back into view with thorough annotation and contextual explanation. Peter Hofschrer, long recognized as a leading scholar of the Napoleonic Wars, shows how the Duke prevented the accounts publication during his lifetime-a manipulation of history so successful that almost two centuries passed before Clausewitzs work reemerged, finally permitting a reappraisal of key events in the campaign. In addition to translating and annotating Clausewitzs critique, Hofschrer also includes an order of battle and an extensive bibliography.