Product Description
This book at last makes available a penetrating exchange between two of history's most famous soldiers concerning the dramatic events of the Waterloo campaign of 1815. The Duke of Wellington is considered one of the greatest military commanders in British history; General Carl von Clausewitz is often seen as the greatest military thinker in the history of Western civilization. Both men were prominent participants in the campaign of 1815. The book is built around a new and complete translation of Clausewitz's study of the Waterloo campaign (published in Berlin in 1835) and Wellington's detailed 1842 response to it. The controversial exchange between these two brilliant soldiers was famous in the 19th century, but it was never published in English and has been suppressed since 1914. The book contains Wellington's initial battle report; two of Clausewitz's post-battle letters to his wife Marie; correspondence within Wellington's circle concerning Clausewitz's work; Clausewitz's campaign study; Wellington's memorandum in response; and enlightening essays by the editors.
THE EDITORS:
CHRISTOPHER BASSFORD, a former U.S. Army artillery officer, is Professor of Strategy at the National War College in Washington, DC. and internet editor of The Clausewitz Homepage.
DANIEL MORAN is Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
GREGORY W. PEDLOW has been Chief of the Historical Office at NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), near Mons, Belgium, since 1989. He has long conducted the Waterloo battlefield staff ride for SHAPE.
THE EDITORS:
CHRISTOPHER BASSFORD, a former U.S. Army artillery officer, is Professor of Strategy at the National War College in Washington, DC. and internet editor of The Clausewitz Homepage.
DANIEL MORAN is Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
GREGORY W. PEDLOW has been Chief of the Historical Office at NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), near Mons, Belgium, since 1989. He has long conducted the Waterloo battlefield staff ride for SHAPE.
About the Author
General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) was a Prussian army officer during the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon. He is most famous as the author of ON WAR, a philosophical treatise on the nature of war that remains the center of hot debate (at least 10 books on him have been published in English in the last four years alone). But he also wrote several histories, including one on the campaign of 1815. Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington (1769-1851), is one of the most famous British commanders of all time, victor over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Other than his official battle report, Wellington wrote only one serious essay concerning that battle, and that essay was in response to Clausewitz's study.
