THE Battle of Waterloo may seem a far off distant event, but it still resonates today.

In this Saturday’s Daily Echo Review section we report how the victor in that dreadful conflict that took place 200-years-ago this week, the Duke of Wellington, was granted a grand stately home here in Hampshire by a grateful nation.

And we in Britain had more reason to be thankful to the Iron Duke than we no doubt at first realised. That victory brought 100 years of peace to a Europe that had been ravaged by conflict and for Great Britain 100-years of world dominance that laid the foundations of much of our wealth as a nation today.

That the Duke found life in Civvy Street not always to his liking is well documented. “Print and be damned!” was just one of his brusk outbursts, one that we in the press oft repeat.

Yet he was a man of his time and on his death all of London lined the streets to mark his passing.

A bygone are indeed, and yet after the terrible conflicts of the last century we should not forget at what cost peace in Europe is bought. Europe tumbled once more into war 100 years after Waterloo. We must hope we do not make the same mistake as we all face our Waterloos in what is looking increasingly like a dangerous world.