6 x 9 inches, 224 pages, 25 illustratons, 12 maps.

Jac Weller's famous trilogy WELLINGTON IN INDIA, WELLINGTON IN THE PENINSULA and WELLINGTON AT WATERLOO is internationally renowned.  Now this new book, ON WELLINGTON:  THE DUKE AND HIS ART OF WAR, by Jac Weller presents a collection of sparkling, erudite and entertaining essays on Wellington's generalship and military genius, and provides an excellent survey of the Duke's art of war and the secrets of his success.

This collection of articles by a foremost and much loved authority on Wellington incorporates valuable insights from walking Wellington's battlefields over many years, and covers the key elements of the Duke's military achievements and qualities.  Weller examines Wellington's mastery of logistics, his use of guerrillas in the Peninsular War, his system of intelligence, his skilful handling of the battle of Busaco, his tactics at Waterloo, and much more.  Weller also considers how Wellington might have fared at Gettysburg.

Following Jac Weller's recent death all his papers went to the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection at Brown University.  The contents of this book have been gathered from these papers, and some of the articles have been published previously over the years in military journals and others are entirely unseen until now.  Andrew Uffindell, author of THE EAGLE'S LAST TRIUMPH and, with Michael Corum, ON THE FIELDS OF GLORY, has edited them for publication, providing additional perspectives.

In his Preface to ON WELLINGTON, His Grace the Duke of Wellington writes:

"It gave me great pleasure when I heard that Greenhill Books were to publish these collected articles of Jac and Cornelia Weller, for, apart from my enormous respect for the Wellers' knowledge of my ancestor, they were old and dear friends.

I first met them many years ago when they came to stay with my father when Jac was starting his research of our papers prior to writing his great trilogy of books on the Great Duke's military career.  Subsequently I saw them frequently here or on 'Wellington' occasions elsewhere.  They were a charming couple - mildly and delightfully eccentric - who constantly surprised me with the breadth and unexpectedness of their interests.

As Jac's books were published he was kind enough to give me copies and these accompanied me whenever I visited the Great Duke's battlefields in India, the Iberian Peninsula and finally Waterloo.  I have always maintained that, from a military point of view, Jac's books were unsurpassed in giving a clear account of events as they unfolded, including a detailed picture of the units and weaponry involved on both sides.  Jac was well qualified to do this as he was an expert on the weapons of the period.

Jac was a very remarkable man:  a distinguished military history expert, a fine athlete in his youth, a weapons expert and an adviser on the subject to governments, and, above all, an articulate and fascinating writer."

The contents of ON WELLINGTON are:-

Preface by His Grace the Duke of Wellington
Foreword by John Powell
Introduction by Andrew Uffindell

PART ONE:  INDIA

1.  Wellington in India Compared with the American Commanders in Vietnam

PART TWO:  THE PENINSULA

2.  The Battle of Busaco, 1810
3.  Wellington's Logistics
4.  Wellington's Engineers
5.  Wellington's Intelligence System
6.  Wellington's Use of Guerrillas
7.  Hill's Raid on Almaraz and Mirabete, 1812

PART THREE:  WATERLOO

8.  Wellington's Waterloo Tactics

PART FOUR:  THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

9.   The Legacy of Napoleon and Wellington in the Civil War
10.  'What if?':  Wellington in Confederate Grey at Gettysburg

PART FIVE:  BROWN BESS

11.  The Brown Bess Musket
 

From Andrew Uffindell's Introduction:

"Jac had no formal academic training in history.  This helped him adopt his startlingly original approach, unhampered by academic formality.  He took great satisfaction in being one of the few non-academics asked to contribute to the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.  'I don't consider myself an historian,' he told Rogan Faith:  'I would certainly not try to write about a battlefield that I did not understand.  I would much rather read a book that is written by somebody who is not academically inclined but I am, of course, giving you subjective suggestions.  It's the way that I have done it.'

Jac knew that readers did not like being written down to, or patronised. 'To be interesting is the supreme aim,' he noted in 1961.  'Far too much accurate, well-researched history is written in a manner so dull that not even other historians read it.'

Jac had to go through up to six successive drafts before he was satisfied with an article or book.  He explained:  'if I had to turn out a complete, readable draft the first time, I would never write anything.  The first draft to me is the one that hurts most;  by making it fast, and therefore poor and rough, I get it done.  Rewriting is then comparatively easy.'  He found this process worked, thanks to the help of his wife and secretaries. Often he would dictate the first draft:  'Once I can pin an article down on paper, it can't get away;  I can then rewrite it at my leisure.' "

Greenhill Books  ISBN 1-85367-334-X

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