Customer Reviews

Adventures In The Rifle Brigade: In The Peninsula, France And The Netherlands From 1809 To 1815

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This man is irrepresible. Another biography you have to thank the publishers for realising it was worth reprinting.

There has been a lot of interest recently in the Peninsular War - and it seems the laconic and witty officers of the 95th (later the Rifle Bridgade) were amongst the best in retelling their experiences. Perhaps it was that they were a different breed of officer - the 95th starting off as an experimental 'light' regiment, a corps established as skirmishers. They didn't fight in line, column and square and so didn't need to spend the hours on the drilling square. Instead they were encouraged to think for themselves and trained to take advantage of every piece of ground for harrassing the enemy.

And for light and witty reflections on Peninsular life, Kincaid is the master. He has a marvellous line in self-deprecating wit that you just can't help liking. For all its humour it is nor short on detail though and it is easy to take your mind back to life as they must have experienced it - at war in a foreign country 200 years ago.

A must buy!

Kincaid's thoroughly entertaining account of his participation in some of the major campaigns on the Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars makes for lively, sometimes funny reading, though Kincaid never loses touch with the grim realities of warfare. His self-depricating humor, heart-felt patriotism, and sensitive reactions to death and destruction bring him to life, and makes the reader wish he/she had known him. He spends most of the book describing every-day life in Wellington's army, the hardships of traveling with an outnumbered and ill-supported force. His accounts of the battles are vivid and engaging. This work was extremely well-received at the time of its first publication, and is one of the sources for the popular Sharpe's series by Bernard Cornwell. It makes a wonderful companion book to anyone who appreciates Cornwell's ragtag officer.