The Napoleonic Wars: The Peninsular War 1807-1814 (Essential Histories, No 17) [Paperback]

Gregory Fremont-Barnes (Author)

Book Description

Series: Essential Histories | Publication Date: March 25, 2002

Napoleon's occupation of the Iberian peninsula embroiled him in a protracted and costly war against British, Spanish and Portuguese forces ultimately led by one of history's greatest commanders -- the Duke of Wellington. Yet it also introduced a new dimension to warfare, for Napoleon's 'Spanish ulcer' became a bitter seven-year struggle against peoples inflamed by nationalism. Thus, while Wellington achieved successive victories in open battle, a parallel guerrilla war exacted a heavy toll of its own on the invaders. No mere sideshow to the other campaigns of the period, the Peninsular War made a significant contribution to Napoleon's eventual downfall.

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From the Publisher

This unique series studies every major war in history looking at all the aspects of war, from how it felt to be a soldier to the lasting impact of the conflict on the world around it.

About the Author

Gregory Fremont-Barnes holds degrees in history from the University of California, Berkeley (BA), the University of Chicago (MA) and the University of Oxford (D. Phil.). Since 1993 he has lectured in British and American history in Japan, principally at Kobe University. He is the author of The French Revolutionary Wars (2001) and numerous articles on British diplomatic and military history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (March 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841763705
• ISBN-13: 978-1841763705
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,637,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What you expect from Essential Histories. Nothing remarkable, but more than adequate., July 30, 2008

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C. T. Hunter "chips_books" (Gainesville, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Napoleonic Wars: The Peninsular War 1807-1814 (Essential Histories, No 17) (Paperback)

While not the most exciting volume (or the most exciting part of the war itself) in the excellent Napoleonic Wars series by Essential Histories, this book succeeds in its mission to be both informative and entertaining. As with most of Essential Histories books, this one gives you a good overview of the topic, including causes and outcomes of the conflict, pertinent economic results, key figures involved, and global significance of the battles within. Of course, the individual battles fought during the time and location focused on are covered to a fair degree of depth, critiquing strategies of all of the involved parties. The most memorable aspect to this volume has got to be the in depth analysis of Wellington, the star of the Peninsular War. His tactics, leadership ability, foresight, and brilliance earned him the title of Britain's most exalted general, and those aspects of him are covered nicely and succinctly here.

So, while not standing out as one of the best Essential Histories I've read, this is more than adequate at covering the task. Just what you expect from a volume in the Essential Histories collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good succinct introduction to this war in only 96 pages, November 21, 2009

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Yoda (Hadera, Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Napoleonic Wars: The Peninsular War 1807-1814 (Essential Histories, No 17) (Paperback)

This book provides a very good introduction to the Penninsular War for those who wish to get up to speed in only an hour and a half or so of reading. It goes not only into how the war evolved in the Iberian Pennisula but also how it came to be, the strengths and weaknesses of each army, the guerrila war, its impact on France's eventual defeat and the main leaders involved. All these are touched upon in a very good manner even though the book is only 96 pages in length (about one third of which are illustration). The book is weak, however, in terms of providing strategic maps showing how the campaign progressed through Portugal and Spain (ironically despite the fact that it has good tactical level maps of the major battles). Hence it is a little difficult for those who are not familiar with Spain to follow, strategically, how the war progressed. There are also, amonsgst the many illustrations in the book, none that show how the typical infanttryman (or cavalry, etc.) looked or were armed.