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An account of the Battle of Waterloo which includes the historical background and phases of the battle as well as the aftermath.

After the Ninth Duke of Rutland, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, died alone in a cramped room in the servants' quarters of Belvoir Castle on April 21, 1940, his son and heir ordered the room, which contained the Rutland family archives, sealed. Sixty years later, Catherine Bailey became the first historian to be given access. What she discovered was a mystery: the Duke had painstakingly erased three periods of his life from all family records--- why? As Bailey uncovers the answers, she also provides an intimate portrait of the very top of British society in the turbulent days leading up to World War I.

"At the close of the Victorian era, as now, privacy was power. The extraordinarily wealthy 5th Duke of Portland had a mania for it, hiding in his horsedrawn carriage and creating tunnels between buildings to avoid being seen. So when, in 1897, an elderly widow asked the court to exhume the grave of her late father-in-law, T.C. Druce, under the suspicion that he'd led a double life as the 5th Duke, no one could dismiss her claim. The eccentric duke, Anna Maria was sure, had faked his death as Druce, and, therefore, her son should inherit the Portland millions. A lurid, decade-long case was born."--Provided by publisher.

"Morton tells the story of the feckless Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor, his American wife Wallis Simpson, the bizarre wartime Nazi plot to make him a puppet king after the invasion of Britain, and the attempted cover-up by Churchill, General Eisenhower, and King George VI of the duke's relations with Hitler. From the alleged affair between Simpson and the German foreign minister to the discovery of top secret correspondence about the man dubbed 'the traitor king' and the Nazi high command, this is a sagaof intrigue, betrayal, and deception"--Dust jacket flap.

Presents an overview of the battle fought at Waterloo, on June, 18, 1815, when Napoleon's seventy thousand men were defeated by the command of the Duke of Wellington, describing the bloody fight and the impact it had on history.

Interviews with informed persons provide a definitive account of England's bachelor king and Mrs. Wallis Simpson, who are portrayed as tragically mismatched lovers.

Chronicles the life of Lady Georgiana Spencer, the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, discussing her success as a leader of fashionable society and hostess of an important political salon, and looking at her unhappy marriage, gambling addiction, and other less savory details of her private life.