- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Greenhill Books (31 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1853673536
- ISBN-13: 978-1853673535
- Product Dimensions: 22.3 x 14.4 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 626,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
› Visit Amazon's August Ludolf Friedrich Schaumann Page
› Visit Amazon's August Ludolf Friedrich Schaumann Page
Product Description
Synopsis
As a classic work and out of print for many years, August Schaumann''s diaries provide a graphic and vivi d account of campaigning life during the Peninsular Wars '
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
At about ten o'clock on Sunday morning the 28th August, 1808, we were given the signal to land. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
At about ten o'clock on Sunday morning the 28th August, 1808, we were given the signal to land. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The conquests (sexual!) of an administrator,
This review is from: On the Road with Wellington: Diary of a War Commissary (Napoleonic Library) (Hardcover)
Schaumann was a commissary - a German civilian serving as a procurement and distribution officer for the British army virtually throughout the Peninsular War. As a German, a commissary and a free wheeling civilian throughout the period there is potential here to fill quite a few gaps in memoirs available from mostly British soldiers. Regrettably there is a disappointing lack of elucidation on logistics issues - such a crucial and neglected aspect of the British success in the Peninsular, and little to add to any operational understanding of things. This is a shame because there are glimpses enough to suggest that he was a most efficient and competent supply practitioner. However there is much of value in his sage yet cynical commentary on Englishmen, Spaniards, Portuguese in general as well as particular individuals - Wellington included.Given what this book isn't (refer the sub title 'The Diary of a War Commissary'), it is still regarded as one of the best memoirs of the Peninsular and it truly is a very good read. Schaumann isn't overly concerned with informing us on greater events but on the events of his own life. Thus we have an entertaining tale of hardships and good times, where the object is to secure for oneself the good things of life. Schaumann certainly knew how to enjoy himself and like his French contemporary Charles Parquin many of his adventures are amorous and not necessarily honourable (!) in nature. Thus we have a memoir that adds much colour to the Peninsular struggle, it expounds everyday life and thus sets the tone not so much for a military struggle but life and times roundabout a famous campaign.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Baron Munchausen & the Iron Duke,
By Jeffrey Hayes - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: On the Road with Wellington: Diary of a War Commissary (Napoleonic Library) (Hardcover)
Greenhill Books has done students of the Peninsular War a great favor with this addition to their Napoleonic Library. August Schaumann, a 30-year old Hanoverian served as a commissary for the King's German Legion, paints an incredible picture of Britain's war in Iberia while maintaining a running travelog with wry humor and succint observations. Whether describing the horrendous retreat to Corunna, his cook (the Witch of Endor), the small kissable feet of a young lady, or the peculiarities of the English, French, Spainish and Portugese his insightful pen entertains and educates without stopping. His small book will make you roar with laughter and sigh sadly at man's inhumanity to man.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adventures in Portugal and Spain,
By D. S. Thurlow - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: On the Road with Wellington: Diary of a War Commissary (Napoleonic Library) (Hardcover)
A.L.F. Schaumann's "On the Road with Wellington" is a delightful memoir of his service as a deputy assistant commissary officer during the Peninsular War. Schaumann's duties as a civilian supply officer for various units took him everywhere the Anglo-Portuguese Army went on campaign during the period 1808-1812. As a non-combatant, Schaumann's story focuses on the mundane tasks required to keep an army quartered and fed, but his eye for detail captures vignettes of the soldiers and civilians with whom he dealt. His gift for narrative provides the reader with a strong of sense of what it was like to be on campaign in that era. His account of the retreat of the British Army under Sir John Moore to Corunna under horrendous conditions in the winter of 1808-1809 is particularly vivid (and heartbreaking).
This is not a battlefield account, although Schaumann was close enough to the fighting to pass on some accounts of battles. Nor is this in any sense a history of the Peninsular War. Strategy and politics are played out well above Schaumann's head, and even Wellington is glimpsed only in passing. The average reader will sometimes be dependent on the footnotes to understand what is happening in the larger war. What Schaumann does provide is the human level detail that makes such a distant conflict real for the modern reader. It is no wonder that writers such as Bernard Cornwell of the Sharps series happily mined Schaumann's memoir for material. Cornwell provides an introduction to complement the translater's preface and the author's own introduction, all well worth reading for the context of Schaumann's story. This book is highly recommended to students of the Peninsular War. It may also be of interest to the casual reader with some background in the Napoleonic Wars. |
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > Military
- Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Europe
- Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Germany
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Ireland
- Books > History > Europe > Germany
- Books > History > Military History
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
