When two supremely powerful political rivals lock horns in a clash of personality and ideology, they can shape the wider history of the world. Great Rivals in History vividly re-creates the epic struggles for dominance that defined the lives of forty-eight iconic adversaries. Featured rivalries include: Elizabeth I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots, whose competing claims to the throne and differing religious loyalties made them mortal enemies despite their blood tics-an enmity that ended with Elizabeth signing her own cousin's death warrant. Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington, magnificent enemies, whose rivalry climaxed amid the mud and blood of Waterloo; Wellington's conservatism delivered him victory, whereas the French emperor's arrogance led him down the path of defeat and despair. Field-Marshall Bernard Montgomery and General George Patton, brothers in arms in the fight against Hitler, who despised one another so intensely they refused to be in the same room together; their malignant ego-driven feud led to botched campaigns and unnecessary loss of life, possibly even prolonging the Second World War by six months. Book jacket.