Product Description

For centuries Spain had been the most feared and predatory power in Europe - it had the largest empire and one of the world's great navies to defend it. Nothing could have prepared the Spanish for the devastating implosion of 1805-14. Trafalgar destroyed its navy and the country degenerated into a brutalized shambles with French and British armies marching across it at will. The result was a war which killed over a million Spaniards and ended its empire. This book is the first in a generation to come to terms with this spectacular and terrible conflict, immortalised by Goya and the arena in which Wellington and his redcoats carved out one of the greatest episodes in British military history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #121520 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

About the Author
Charles Esdaile is Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Liverpool and the author of THE WARS OF NAPOLEON.

Customer Reviews

This book is impressive and the final balance, Excellent
In the last few years, excellent works have been published in Spain about the Peninsular War on both the regional and provincial levels as well as the local one. The last British or Anglo-Saxon contribution disseminated in Spain was by David Gates in 1987, very possibly inclined towards the military aspect. Gabriel Lovett's contribution was published in Spain in 1975. Tone, the most recent contributor, only deals with guerilla warfare.
In the case of the book by Charles Esdaile, it is not easy to write a study in which one tries to combine social, economic, political and military aspects in each chapter. It is even harder to summarize it. One cannot make everyone happy when summarizing. In a certain chapter, some description of a fact will be missing so it seems incomplete to us. In another chapter, we possibly will not like the interpretation of an event. It is not about that. On the contrary, the general framework of this book is impressive and the final balance can be described as Excellent. The reading of the book will make us realize that each chapter is a book in and of itself and prove that Charles Esdaile has written, in fact, 18 little books. This is the distinction, if it can be described as such, of Charles Esdaile's work. As it is a book of reference, its consultation will be obligatory. For that reason, if a book is recommended, its presence should not be missing from the collection of one interested in the Peninsular War. The reading of each chapter is an authentic exercise in actualization and the final bibliography makes the previous books obsolete.

It is possible that Peninsular War: A New History will displease a certain group of Spanish readers. The explanation is due to how the Peninsular War has been covered for many years, both in popular education and various history books. According to them, Spain won the war thanks to the guerrilla and the British army doesn't seem to play more than a secondary role. Esdaile's book changes these stereotypes and reduces the roles of the various myths, like the guerrilla, to the level at which they deserve. But this is not liked, and even less in demonstrating that this war made many negative aspects come to light for the Spanish. It is about assuming those things that are true and Esdaile demonstrates them, thanks to a very profound work, not only in the British archives, but also thanks to many years of work in the Spanish archives. Few historians can put together a comparative study of this level.

Jesús Maroto de las Heras

Detailed Account of the Peninsular Campaign
Charles Esdaile's new book on the Peninsular War offers readers a comprehensive and in-depth study of this savage conflict that raged across Spain and Portugal between 1808 and 1814. In over 510 pages of text the author takes us through the reasons why this war started, the battles and campaigns as it progressed over the years and the many interesting facets behind the characters involved. Not only does the author cover the military aspects in detail but also he does not neglect those other important factors such as the politics of the Spanish Junta, Guerilla warfare and the effects on the civilian population.

All the major battles and campaigns are covered and I found the author to be refreshingly non-biased in his writing, offering laurels to those armies, soldiers and commanders that deserved praise, regardless of origin. The maps supplied, 22 in number, were detailed enough to follow the narrative but they could have been of a higher quality. The illustrations, 28 in number, were excellent. The choice of pictures and their quality (all colour prints) was outstanding and made the book that little bit more special.

I must confess that at times the narrative appeared to bog down, mainly when covering the politics of the war. That's not the author's fault but mine, I tend to appreciate the military aspects of a story more. These areas covered by the author in this regard where quite important to the story but I was always itching to get back to the battlefield and to follow the movement of the French and British armies as they maneuvered for another pitched battle.

Overall this is a great book covering this most important Napoleonic campaign. The author utilises numerous first-hand accounts from participants, both military and civilian and they blend in perfectly with the narrative. Its one of the better one-volume accounts and I would rank it along side another one of my personal favorites, 'The Spanish Ulcer' by David Gates. I am sure that anyone who appreciates military history will enjoy this new title by Charles Esdaile.

How to lose the battle about the war
It's a few years since I last read up on the Peninsular, so I was quite attracted to this one-volume paperback with a pretty cover. Ignorant of the author, nevertheless his qualifications and track record, together with the generous reviews, made it an easy decision.

Now, I'd like to think of myself as a history buff; I can be found reading texts that make, say, my wife either go cross-eyed or fall into a deep slumber. Consequently, I was not put off by the author's simultaneous take on the politics, the economics and the military operations - indeed, one would like to think that this is the way all history should be written.

Alas, this state of grace did not last. I soon found my attention wandering, then I was skipping the odd paragraph, and then whole pages... Somehow, the author has created one of the dullest works I have ever read, made the more so by the largely absent editing (despite a credit to the copy editor). I swear, if I see another redundant 'thus' again... and then there are the sentences that contradict themselves, or which pull together two mutually irrelevant concepts for comparison.

I wasn't able to finish this book - abandoning the text near the end with a gasp of relief.

I am afraid to say that this book should be quietly put down, in more ways than one, while someone tries to find a way to effectively express Mr Esdaile's immense knowledge. What a terrible shame.