A provocative reappraisal of Wellington's military career, his victory at Waterloo, and the source of his genius as a general Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, lives on in popular memory as the "Invincible General," loved by his men, admired by his peers, formidable to his opponents. This incisive book revises such a portrait, offering an accurate—and controversial—new analysis of Wellington's remarkable military career. Unlike his nemesis Napoleon, Wellington was by no means a man of innate military talent, Huw J. Davies argues. Instead, the key to Wellington's military success was an exceptionally keen understanding of the relationship between politics and war.
Drawing on extensive primary research, Davies discusses Wellington's military apprenticeship in India, where he learned through mistakes as well as successes how to plan campaigns, organize and use intelligence, and negotiate with allies. In India Wellington encountered the constant political machinations of indigenous powers, and it was there that he apprenticed in the crucial skill of balancing conflicting political priorities. In later campaigns and battles, including the Peninsular War and Waterloo, Wellington's genius for strategy, operations, and tactics emerged. For his success in the art of war, he came to rely on his art as a politician and tactician. This strikingly original book shows how Wellington made even unlikely victories possible—with a well-honed political brilliance that underpinned all of his military achievements.

Wellington's Wars: The Making of a Military Genius

Biographies & Memoirs

Davies, Huw J.

Historical

Yale University Press

A compelling history of the British Army in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—showing how the military gathered knowledge from campaigns across the globe\n“Superb analysis.”—William Anthony Hay, Wall Street Journal\nAt the outbreak of the War of Austrian Succession in 1742, the British Army’s military tactics were tired and outdated, stultified after three decades of peace. The army’s leadership was conservative, resistant to change, and unable to match new military techniques developing on the continent. Losses were cataclysmic and the force was in dire need of modernization—both in terms of strategy and in leadership and technology.\nIn this wide-ranging and highly original account, Huw J. Davies traces the British Army’s accumulation of military knowledge across the following century. An essentially global force, British armies and soldiers continually gleaned and synthesized strategy from war zones the world over: from Europe to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Davies records how the army and its officers put this globally acquired knowledge to use, exchanging information and developing into a remarkable vehicle of innovation—leading to the pinnacle of its military prowess in the nineteenth century.

The Wandering Army: The Campaigns that Transformed the British Way of War

History

Europe

Intelligence is often the critical factor in a successful military campaign. This was certainly the case for Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, in the Peninsular War. In this book, author Huw J. Davies offers the first full account of the scope, complexity, and importance of Wellington’s intelligence department, describing a highly organized, multifaceted series of networks of agents and spies throughout Spain and Portugal—an organization that was at once a microcosm of British intelligence at the time and a sophisticated forebear to intelligence developments in the twentieth century. Spying for Wellington shows us an organization that was, in effect, two parallel networks: one made up of Foreign Office agents “run” by British ambassadors in Spain and Portugal, the other comprising military spies controlled by Wellington himself. The network of agents supplied strategic intelligence, giving the British army advance warning of the arrival, destinations, and likely intentions of French reinforcements. The military network supplied operational intelligence, which confirmed the accuracy of the strategic intelligence and provided greater detail on the strengths, arms, and morale of the French forces. Davies reveals how, by integrating these two forms of intelligence, Wellington was able to develop an extremely accurate and reliable estimate of French movements and intentions not only in his own theater of operations but also in other theaters across the Iberian Peninsula. The reliability and accuracy of this intelligence, as Davies demonstrates, was central to Wellington’s decision-making and, ultimately, to his overall success against the French. Correcting past, incomplete accounts, this is the definitive book on Wellington’s use of intelligence. As such, it contributes to a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of Wellington at war and of his place in the history of British military intelligence.

Spying for Wellington: British Military Intelligence in the Peninsular War (Volume 64) (Campaigns and Commanders Series)

University of Oklahoma Press

<div> Intelligence is often the critical factor in a successful military campaign. This was certainly the case for Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, in the Peninsular War. In this book, author Huw J. Davies offers the first full account of the scope, complexity, and importance of Wellington's intelligence department, describing a highly organized, multifaceted series of networks of agents and spies throughout Spain and Portugal--an organization that was at once a microcosm of British intelligence at the time and a sophisticated forebear to intelligence developments in the twentieth century. Spying for Wellington shows us an organization that was, in effect, two parallel networks: one made up of Foreign Office agents "run" by British ambassadors in Spain and Portugal, the other comprising military spies controlled by Wellington himself. The network of agents supplied strategic intelligence, giving the British army advance warning of the arrival, destinations, and likely intentions of French reinforcements. The military network supplied operational intelligence, which confirmed the accuracy of the strategic intelligence and provided greater detail on the strengths, arms, and morale of the French forces. Davies reveals how, by integrating these two forms of intelligence, Wellington was able to develop an extremely accurate and reliable estimate of French movements and intentions not only in his own theater of operations but also in other theaters across the Iberian Peninsula. The reliability and accuracy of this intelligence, as Davies demonstrates, was central to Wellington's decision-making and, ultimately, to his overall success against the French. Correcting past, incomplete accounts, this is the definitive book on Wellington's use of intelligence. As such, it contributes to a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of Wellington at war and of his place in the history of British military intelligence. &nbsp;</div>

Spying for Wellington (Campaigns and Commanders Series) (Volume 64)

From the ashes of Steve Dowling's 'Garth' comes...'FREEMAN of the Armed Services', Huw-J-'s critically acclaimed web comic that originally re-launched the adventures of the Daily Mirror syndicate's action and adventure hero. Incorporating the story arcs "Gold of Ragnarock" and "King of New York", both which hearken back to the good old days where the spirit of adventure and good old-fashioned action reigned supreme. A true British hero!

Freeman of the Armed Services

Comics & Graphic Novels

Graphic Novels

Markosia Enterprises

Join the teenage Holmes and his friends in a desperate race to unravel the mystery of the London Vampire before more blood is spilt on the dark, dingy and dangerous streets of Victorian London. Murder, mystery and menace follow hot on the heels of the boy who is destined to become the world's most astonishing detective. Who is the masked figure that stalks the streets in search of blood? What secret does he hold that will forever change the life of Holmes and his closest friend? Why does "the Agency" want Holmes to join them? Answers and more mysteries await you in The Young Sherlock Holmes Adventures.

The Young Sherlock Holmes Adventures

Children's Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Davies, Huw J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Davies, Huw J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Davies, Huw J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Wellington's Wars: The Making of a Military Genius

Wellington's Wars: The Making of a Military Genius

The Wandering Army: The Campaigns that Transformed the British Way of War

Spying for Wellington: British Military Intelligence in the Peninsular War (Volume 64) (Campaigns and Commanders Series)

Spying for Wellington (Campaigns and Commanders Series) (Volume 64)

Freeman of the Armed Services

The Young Sherlock Holmes Adventures