Customer Reviews

CAMPAIGNING WITH THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND FEATHERSTONE: A Guide to the Battles in Spain and Portugal, with Donald Featherstone, the Duke of Wellington, and All the Others, 1808-1814 and 1973-1992

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While the book's premise is excellent and the use of eye-witness accounts laudable, the numerous typos, inconsistencies and errors make one feel unable to trust the information presented. (On page 9, we "learn" that the battle of Vitoria occurred in 1815!) The typos are truly jolting: "filed" for field; "Moor" for Moore; "form" for from, "Sit" for Sir. And that's just in the first three pages. The author states that this is book doesn't claim to be an "academic or definitive work," but it's unusual for a work on this subject (and at this price! - $35 at the bookstore) to be so poorly presented. There's good stuff in it, but who knows what's accurate and what isn't? A real disappointment.

While the book does contain spelling errors and in general suffers from poor editing, the orders of battle are very precise, and a must for wargamers. The maps and battle descriptions are also excellent. I'd recommend this book to any wargamer or history buff interested in the peninsular war.

Amin

This is a good book on the Pennisular War by noted wargaming author Donald Featherstone. Has all the order of battles and descriptions of the battles.Also has a set of rules you can use to play with. He's a bit pro-british, but then again me being a Bonaparist also have my bias. excellent book though you must get this one

A Guide to the Battles in Spain & Portugal, with Donald Featherstone, the Duke of Wellington and all the Others, 1808-1814 and 1973-92. This book combines the best of three styles of writing. The author presents a detailed account of the battles in the Peninsula, along with his narrative of his many journeys across the actual battlefield sites, plus a detailed order of battle and info on how to wargame each battle. Solid scholarship on the battles of the Duke of Wellington is combined with a light-hearted look at visiting the fields and gaming the battles today. Discussed within are the battles where the Duke of Wellington and his army earned their reputation. These hard fought and dramatic battles proved the mastery of both the Duke and the British infantryman and broke the power of the French armies that had conquered Spain, Portugal, and most of Europe. Donald Featherstone discusses each battle, with the aid of expert historians, and the accounts of actual participants. It is not just a study of generalship and tactics, for the author is keenly interested in the experiences of the common soldier. A veteran wargamer and a much-published author, Donald Featherstone gives us the benefit of his many visits to the battlefields, with anecdotes and advice on how to have fun. He tells us how he has fought these battles many times on the tabletop, and his emphasis has always been to enjoy the game.

1993, hard bound in dust jacket, 7 1/2 x 10 1/2, 351 pages, period illus, photo of the sites today and numerous sketch maps of each battlefield, bibliog.