Next to Wellington: General Sir George Murray: The Story of a Scottish Soldier and Statesman, Wellington's Quartermaster General

It was inevitable that a young George Murray, born into a long established Perthshire family with both Jacobite and Hanoverian loyalties, would soon see action in the campaigns against Revolutionary France and Napoleon Bonaparte after obtaining his commission into 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards (the Scots Guards) in 1790. Murray served with distinction in the Low Countries, which were seen as essential to safeguarding Britain's trade links and in Ireland, where the constant threat of insurrection and invasion required a huge garrison. He accompanied General Abercromby to remove the French from Egypt, where Murray was in the first wave of the landing force at Aboukir, one of the great British military successes. Based on primary sources, in particular Murray's own papers and letters, the book delves beneath the surface of many of the major military and political events of the time, and examines the very close military, political, and personal relationship that bound Murray and Wellington together, as, with demonstrable mutual loyalty and respect, they confronted enemies and opponents over a period of 40 years during an extraordinary period of British history.