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The Peninsular War: A New History [Paperback]

Charles Esdaile
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 624 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (2 Oct 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140273700
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140273700
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 67,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • See Complete Table of Contents

More About the Author

Charles J. Esdaile
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Product Description

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.

About the Author

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

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Peninsular War 15 Jun 2009
Format:Paperback
In his Preface, Esdaile rightly states that to understand the Peninsular War it is essential also to study the contemporary political, economic & social history of Spain & Portugal. The majority of the many books about the Peninsular War have been written by military historians, whose main concern is the battles, or are the memoirs of soldiers who took part in it & who either knew nothing of the background to the war or considered it to be of little interest.
Esdaile's new history, after twenty years' work with a team of seven researchers consulting some 700 books & documents in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese & Catalan, is very disappointing. If it is meant for the general reader with an interest in the Peninsular War, the historical background is confusing & should have been explained in greater detail, even if it resulted in a much longer book - with the vast amount of material at his disposal this would not have been a difficult task for the author. If it is meant for the academic then it adds very little to what would already be known by most historians specializing in this period.
Numerous, similar, eye-witness accounts of isolated incidents are no substitute for an overall description of the important battles.
The passages in italics which open each chapter (translations/fiction?) detract from the value of the book as a serious history.
I did not find the book as biased as some critics. Having read other works by Esdaile, I would not have been surprised if the importance of the guerrilleros had been played down more but I found Chapter 10 on the growth of the partidas & how they became less effective when they were taken into the regular army to be a very fair account & Wellington's defects are shown & not hidden.
Had I not read R.J. Bowen's comments about Esdaile's idiosyncratic use of "thus", perhaps this would not have been so noticeable, but, after my attention was drawn to it, the word leapt out of the text - sometimes two or three times on the same page.
My own petty criticism is of Esdaile's use of accents. Many Spaniards are guilty of omitting written accents but Esdaile puts them on words that should not have them - there is no written accent on virgen, somatenes, diputaciones, patriotas. Enrique O'Donnell was the Conde de La Bisbal not the Conde del Abisbal.
The Peninsular War closes with three pages of suggested Further Reading & a very impressive bibliography but anyone who wants a good understanding of the war, its causes & the historical background, & has not time to work through a stack of books, need look no further than D. Gates The Spanish Ulcer, R. Fraser's Napoleon's Cursed War &, if they read Spanish, M. Artola's La España de Fernando VII.
David Gates, The Spanish Ulcer. A History of the Peninsular War. Pimlico 2002 (first published 1986). This is absolutely essential reading for anyone studying the Peninsular War. It is factual, informative, unbiased & readable.
Ronald Fraser, Napoleon's Cursed War. Popular Resistance in the Spanish Peninsular War,Verso, 2008 (translated into Spanish by Silvia Furió as La Maldita Guerra de España. Historia social de la guerra de la Independencia 1808-1814. Crítica, Barcelona 2006 - the Spanish edition, which came out first, includes additional material that Fraser thought would be of particular interest to the Spanish reader). Fraser achieves what Esdaile was aiming at & his style is much more gripping. His knowledge of the period is immense & this book is as important as his works on the Spanish Civil War.
Miguel Artola Gallego, La España de Fernando VII. Editorial Espasa Calpe S.A. 1999, covers the history of Spain from 1808 to 1833 in great detail. It is rather heavy going at times but is an excellent work of reference. As far as I know, it has not been translated into English.
A Spanish friend of mine, a historian, recommends Liberty or Death! The Life & Times of Asensio Nebot "El Fraile" (not Agustín Nebot, as Esdaile calls him) by Charles M. Wilson, Trafford 2008. This deals mainly with the war on the Mediterranean coast from the point of view of the Spanish Liberals (& especially with the guerrillas) & the repression after the return of Fernando VII. It is worth mentioning as it describes well the political situation, the social conditions, etc. before, during & after the war.
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37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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
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36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
More than a military history.
I first read this book seven years ago when it came out and found it turgid and heavy going! I struggled through till the end, though it felt as if it took longer than it took... Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2009 by Chris Chamberlain
The View from a Broad Perspective
I am a retired US Army colonel who spent my last years on active duty as an instructor and academic department chair at the US Army War College. Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2009 by Adolf Carlson
Informative and readable
I really rate this book both as an academic study and as an interesting read. My first contact with this book was to dip into it, reading various chapters with a view to... Read more
Published on 22 May 2009 by D.Buttery
I suppose it's a history but could it have been more interesting?
I have very mixed emotions on this book. By that I mean that I feel this book covers a lot of the political and spiritual aspects of the Spain through the war very well but tends... Read more
Published on 29 May 2007 by chris
Peninsula Wars
Having seen and read a lot about this subject, I found this book a bit different. At times it was hard going but it did give me a better general insight into this period of... Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2006 by S. Bond
History tolls for british superiority (and Spain is a country of...
This is a pretentious dull book, whose only finality is to claim again, by definition, the british superiority (militarily and politicaly) over Napoleon (and France) on the harsh... Read more
Published on 25 July 2006 by Jesus Santamaria Antonio
Dissapointing
Esdaile has a problem with the Peninsular War: while he understands well the dynamic of power inside the British side of the conflict, he didn't catch the intricacies of the... Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2006
The best book on the subject
A great general history, combining thrilling narrative and incisive analysis. This book is an absolute must for anyone who really wants to understand what this brutal, drawn-out... Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2006
The best book on the subject
General historical writing at its best, this book combines thrilling narrative with incisive analysis to show what this brutal, drawn-out war was really like for the people who... Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2006
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. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2005 by R. J. Bowen
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