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 direct response to Clausewitz's study.