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Fatal Knot: The Guerrilla War in Navarre and the Defeat of Napoleon in Spain

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Disregarding the historiographic tradition associated with the guerillas of Navarre, John Lawrence Tone provides a much-needed social and economic analysis of the Spanish province in The Fatal Knot: The Guerilla War in Navarre and the Defeat of Napoleon in Spain. Tone's sophisticated approach and copious evidence give a clear picture of the motivations and influences of the Navarrese guerillas and the failures of the French from 1808-1813.

The first two chapters, what tone calls his "portrait of Navarre", provide the background necessary to understand the vigilance and success of the guerilla movement and its leaders. Contrasting the upper and lower regions of Navarre, Montana and Ribera, Tone is able to evaluate and pinpoint sources of rebel instigation. More explanatory passages are sprinkled throughout the narrative portion of the book, so the separation of social and narrative history is neither harsh to the reader nor boring. The final chapter, clearly defined as "Why Navarre Fought" sums up Tone's arguments for the success of the movement in Montana. The prevalence of private land ownership, a large percentage of nobility, and clerical poverty all contributed to the movement's social and economic background but the political autonomy the region enjoyed under the Spanish Monarchy was possibly the most important factor in instigating the guerilla wars.

Tone's arguments would have benefited from a comparison of the situation in Spain with that in the Kingdom of Naples. General Reynier, for example, was successful in defeating guerrillas in the similarly harsh territory of Calabria, yet he was unable to resist them in Navarre, further evidence of the importance of political sovereignty in Navarre. For now the Calabrian guerillas remain subject to the stereotypes once associated with the Navarese. (see Milton Finley, "The Most Monstrous of Wars")