Wellington's History of the Peninsular War by Stuart Reid

Wellington's History of the Peninsular War by Stuart Reid

Though pressed many times to write about his battles and campaigns, the Duke of Wellington always replied that people should refer to his published despatches, and he refused to add further to his official correspondence, famously remarking that: The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.' Yet Wellington did, in effect, write a history of the Peninsular War in the form of four lengthy memoranda, summarising the conduct of the war in 1809, 1810 and 1811 respectively. These lengthy accounts demonstrate Wellington's unmatched appreciation of the nature of the war in Spain and Portugal, and relate to the operations of the French and Spanish forces as well as the Anglo-Portuguese army under his command. Unlike personal diaries or journals written by individual soldiers, with their inevitably limited knowledge, Wellington was in an unparalleled position to provide a comprehensive overview of the war. Equally, the memoranda were written as the war unfolded, not tainted with the knowledge of hindsight, providing a unique contemporaneous commentary. Brought together by renowned historian Stuart Reid with reports and key despatches from the other years of the campaign, the result is the story of the Peninsular War told through the writings of the man who knew and understood the conflict in Iberia better than any other. These memoranda and despatches have never been published before in a single connected narrative. Therefore, Wellington's History of the Peninsular War 1808-1814 offers a uniquely accessible perspective on the conflict in the own words of Britain's greatest general.

Stuart Reid was born in Aberdeen in 1954 into a family with a tradition of service in the Army stretching back through the Battle of Mons to Culloden and beyond. He is the author of numerous military history publications and has written extensively upon Scottish military history during the seventeenth century Civil War and the Jacobite period.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781526737632
ISBN 10	1526737639
Title	Wellington's History of the Peninsular War
Author	Stuart Reid
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Year published	2019-07-09
Number of pages	320
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.