Captain Gronow, joined the Grenadier guards as a young subaltern in 1812, having completed his studies at Eton and was widely know in England and the Continent thereafter as a raconteur and a fine pistol shot. His "Reminiscences" span four volumes in their original edition, an edited version was produced around the turn of the 19th century, having varied titles but following a stream of collected anecdotes set in distinct eras. These memoirs have achieved a high degree of fame and are justly accorded much historical respect, especially in those incidents where Gronow was personally present to record the words and deeds of those around him. Although admitted to the highest society, Gronow is far from being a snob and his works bear the stamp of a high degree of moral probity, they could not be described as the handiwork of a gossip.In his last volume of recollections, Gronow recalls the many and varied encounters with the great and the good of European society with whom he mixed, added to which are a number of military anecdotes and sketches of the war in the Spanish Peninsular and some of the officers and men who fought there and at Waterloo. The Duke of Wellington, Prince Regent, Talleyrand feature prominently, |