Customer Reviews

The Biographical Dictionary of British Officers Killed and Wounded, 1808-1814 (History of the Peninsular War)

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John Hall has written perhaps the most complete record of casualties of British and Allied Officers caused by actions in the Iberian Peninsula during the "period". His sources are impeccably presented and must be of great value to military students of the war in that theatre. Being given permission to attach this work to the definitive overall history by Charles Oman is sufficient acceptance in itself to guarantee its place on the shelves of the most august military libraries, however, it must be said that a similar work coming from the "enemy" of the time, "Listes des officers tues et blesses pendant les Guerres de l'Empire" by M Martinien, was in continuous use by Sir Charles throughout his own mammoth compilation, and , although often remarked upon by that author as being "invaluable" was never elevated beyond that rather minor appellation. That criticism apart this work has such a wealth of hitherto "hard to find" information, so easily made accessible, that it would be churlish to deny the author his laurels. The collective history of the war in the Peninsula then has just made a modest leap foward through this publication.

Sir Charles Oman's comprehensive seven volume history of the Peninsular War is the yardstick by which any other history of this theatre must be measured. However, this eighth volume is only for the hard core. If it happened, it is in one of these volumes.