An examination of the portraits of Wellington presented by historians, biographers, and memoir-writers, especially from the years before the Peninsular War and Waterloo and before he became ' The Duke.'
The programme introduces a writer who is checking through the less well-known years of Wellington's life - from his birth, in 1769, to 1815. His fame rests on his career as a general. How good a general was he? What events influenced his complex character, and made him a failure as a politician?
Written by FRANCIS DILLON
Produced by ROBERT CRADOCK