Wellington's Smallest Victory

'A first-class work of historical investigation.' Andrew Roberts, author of Napoleon and WellingtonThe extraordinary story of how one man's obsession to build a huge model of Waterloo - the greatest model of the greatest battle of all time - incurred the wrath of the Duke of Wellington.'A book that should be read and pondered deeply by anyone interested even vaguely in the Napoleonic wars . . . Hofschröer's impeccable research shows that the Iron Duke was guilty of self-regarding pettiness, obsessive vanity, spin-doctoring and a shameful vendetta against a man whose only crime was to tell the truth.' Daily Express'Mightily impressive.' Richard Holmes, author of Redcoat'This important book reveals what happens when a loyal subject runs up against an establishment that will stop at nothing to suppress the truth.' Guardian

William Siborne, a lieutenant in the British army and expert in topography, was commissioned to make a vast scale model of Waterloo, incorporating 75, 000 tin-lead soldiers and stretching over 400 square feet. But why - at a time when celebrations of England's finest hour at Waterloo were so in vogue, and Wellington's fame was at its peak - did this exquisite model gain Siborne the enmity of the Duke and ultimately lead to his own ruin? Peter Hofschroer tells the extraordinary and tragic tale of one man's obsession to build the greatest model of the greatest battle of all time.