The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War [Paperback]

David Gates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2001

The Peninsular War in Spain and Portugal was the most bitterly fought contest of nineteenth-century Europe. From 1808 to 1814, Spanish regulars and guerrillas, along with British forces led by Sir John Moore and the duke of Wellington, battled Napoleon's troops across the length and breadth of the Iberian Peninsula. Napoleon considered the war so insignificant that he rarely bothered to bring to it his military genius, relying instead on his marshals and simultaneously launching his disastrous Russian campaign of 1812. Yet the Peninsular War was to end with total defeat for the French, and in 1813 Wellington's army crossed the Pyrenees into mainland France. What Napoleon had called "the Spanish ulcer" ultimately helped bring down the French empire. Michael Howard of Oxford University hailed this book as "a major achievement...the first brief and balanced account of the war to have appeared within our generation." Illustrated with over a hundred maps and fifty contemporary drawings and paintings, this is a richly detailed history of a crucial period in history that resonates powerfully to this day—and figures prominently in Bernard Cornwell's internationally acclaimed novels of the Napoleonic era.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1808, on the Iberian peninsula, Napoleon began a six-year war of attrition against Spain and its British and Portuguese allies. Expecting a quick victory, the French emperor instead found himself facing a strong foe (led by Britain's Duke of Wellington), including popular opposition in the form of guerrilla bands, and constant supply and communications problems. In this thorough military history, Gates, a university lecturer in Scotland, offers a battle-by-battle account of the war in its various theaters, with maps and other illustrations. His descriptions of the brutal fighting on barren terrain are clear and balanced, making this a valuable modern view of the conflict. He likens the "Spanish Ulcer," as the ultimately devastating defeat of Napoleon was called, to the present-day Soviet attempt to impose rule against the popular will in Afghanistan. History Book Club selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The Peninsular War of 1807-14, now aptly known as Napoleon's Vietnam, has long been the subject of serious military study. This new book by a dependable historian updates the extensive literature on the subject and condenses it into a useful and readable volume. There is little in the way of interpretation beyond the traditional anti-Napoleonic bias of British writers, but Gates presents a solid nuts-and-bolts overview of a complex and particularly nasty war. He is deft at reducing the mass of names, battles, and dates into an enticing narrative, and numerous maps make it easy to follow each siege and skirmish. This book will be valuable to academics and enjoyed by lay historians. History Book Club selection. Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Los Angeles
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; New edition edition (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306810832
• ISBN-13: 978-0306810831
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Standard, October 13, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Hayes (Annapolis MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War (Hardcover)

David Gates' treatment of the Iberian conflict has no equal and remains the best single-volume history of Napoleon's unfortunate Spanish adventure. Far superior to Michael Glover's PENINSULAR WAR, Gates' work is comprehensive, well-researched and clearly written. I just finished my 6th reading and continue to enjoy it.
Unlike most British Peninsular authors Gates follows in the footsteps of Oman and gives a balanced objective account giving credit to both the conventional and irregular Spanish forces, and does a masterful job of dealing with the French as well. I find, happily, that he eschews the usual hero-worship of Wellington and does find the Iron Duke human after all (particularly some of his ill-advised sieges). He accompanies his solid research with a useful chronology, some short biographical details, and some very good order of battle work. The work is marred by execrable maps (perhaps drawn by a child) and the all too often use of "sullen." I am happy to see that it's coming soon to paperback. I was most pleased to see information on the little-known Marshal Suchet and his long-suffering Army of Aragon. Buy it & enjoy it!

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Campaign Study of the Peninsular War, December 20, 1998

By 

Aussie Reader ""Rick"" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War (Hardcover)

If you only want to a have one book on the Peninsular War, this is it. This is a great account of the battles and campaigns fought in Spain & Portugal during the Napoleonic Wars. In over 550 pages of text the author, David Gates, offers the reader a detailed account of the fighting with a non-bias point of view. He offers assessments of the opposing Generals and their forces and covers the political and social background of the times.

The only fault I could find with this book would be the standard of the maps. They are sufficient in number and assist the reader in following the fighting but could have been of a better quality and detail. The author also provides a number of B&W photographs. Overall this is one of the best single volume accounts on this subject and well worth the time to read.

"Using French & Spanish as well as British material, he presents the first brief and balanced account of the war to have appeared within our generation. As the first work of a new young military historian it is a major achievement, and I hope that we shall see many more from his pen". - Michael Howard, Oxford University

Just for information the book was first published in 1986 and the author was a Lecturer at the Centre for Defence Studies at the University of Aberdeen.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best strategic overview of the Spanish campaign, January 9, 2004

By 

lordhoot "lordhoot" (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War (Paperback)

David Gates' book is probably the best book on the subject of the eight year Spanish campaign that helped defeat Napoloen and his French Empire. The book proves to be superbly well written and very easy to read. Its a history book on general regular war in Spain, looking closely at battles and individual campaigns which made up this war. As one of the earlier reviewers wrote that it really doesn't go into that much details about politics, people or guerillas. I supposed for an one volume book, there probably isn't enough pages to due justice if Gates spread out too thinly. With this in mind, this book with its extremely readable writing, should be part of every Napoleonic library.