Major GORDON CORRIGAN, military historian and former professional soldier, is fascinated by military leadership. What makes a military commander not just competent but great?

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In this series by investigating 6 of Britain's greatest military commanders, he tries to find out. In this programme it is ARTHUR WELLESLEY, THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON To understand Wellington's success and brilliance, Corrigan travels to Portugal and Spain. Here during the Peninsular War Wellington built the impressive defensive structure known as the Torres Vedras. Corrigan also visits the battlefield at Salamanca and sees some of the finds of local battlefield historian and metal detectorist MIGUEL ANGEL MARTIN MAS. At Wellington's London home, Apsley House, curator KATHARINE HUGH explains how Wellington became obsessed with his great rival, Napoleon, and shows Corrigan some of the mementoes and portraits he kept of the French commander. Corrigan also retells the exciting story of Wellington's greatest triumph on the battlefield of Waterloo, itself. "He was England's greatest general...and without him the history of Europe would have been very different. He was not popular but he was respected. More than that, he was revered.

This film was first broadcast: 11 Nov 2005

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