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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent short guide to Wellington's Peninsular war., 19 Jun 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Wellington in the Peninsula, 1808-14 (Greenhill Military Paperback) (Paperback)
Although this is a one volume guide to the Peninsular War, the author manages to pack in a huge amnount of information , and made this an essential guide to the planning of a trip to the battlefields, and a useful companion once there. There are references to other, more encyclopaedic authors such as Oman, and topographical information plus sketches which give the general idea of the conduct of individual battles and sieges. The topographical information is a little dated now owing to the amount of recent development in Spain and Portugal, but is still helpful if you are planning on visiting the Peninsular yourself. I have read many books on this war, and am happy to commnend this to anyone, expert or new enthusiast.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Wellington in the Peninsula, 9 Oct 2011
This review is from: Wellington in the Peninsula, 1808-14 (Greenhill Military Paperback) (Paperback)
One of the best one-volume accounts of what to my mind is the most imagination-stirring campaign fought by the British Army. Weller judges Wellington shrewdly, is highly accurate as to fact, and writes with balance and pace. Another strong point was his eye for topography: he himself had walked the battlefields and even in some cases between them. Inevitably the hard back version, which I had at the time but alas no longer, would be nicer to own, but assuming all its pages are intact (and with early 70s paperbacks that is often not the case) will serve.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent one volume account of a long war, 21 Jan 2000
By Bruce Trinque - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wellington in the Peninsula, 1808-14 (Greenhill Military Paperback) (Paperback)
Weller's book is a genuine classic of military history, describing a long war in a clear, incisive narrative. The battles are described concisely while pointing out options, mistakes, and tactical aspects. But it is a book of more than just battle accounts. Weller also intelligently explores the strategic problems and opportunities faced by both sides during the Peninuslar War. Certainly Wellington is Weller's hero in this narrative, but he me makes a compelling case for why the man who would become known as the Iron Duke deserves his sterling reputation.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Overview, 29 Aug 2000
By "limespider" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wellington in the Peninsula, 1808-14 (Greenhill Military Paperback) (Paperback)
As the title indicates, this is essentially a book about Wellington's engagements in the Peninsular War, not the Peninsular War as a whole. Keeping that in perspective, this is an excellent book which covers each of Wellington's battles and sieges, as well as his logistical and strategic decisions, in great detail. Weller uses abundant footnotes to document his sources and indicates any conflicting accounts in the source material. So while this is a view of the British involvement in the Peninsular War, it is an unbiased one. It is also light enough in scope that one can get a good feel for this conflict without having to read all seven volumes of Oman.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An old favorite returns, 6 Oct 2004
By Jeffrey F. Bell - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wellington in the Peninsula, 1808-14 (Greenhill Military Paperback) (Paperback)
This was the first serious book on land combat in the Napoleonic age that was available in my small boring home town. I actually read it covertly in my high school classes. Some of my friends claim I share some of the Iron Duke's annoying personality traits -- if so this book is the reason!
30 years later I would still rate it as the best general 1-vol study of Wellington's campaigns, and the single book I would carry if I were visiting the battlefields. But there are some problems with it that need to be recognised:
1) Weller was writing about Wellington, so other armies and generals fighting in Spain at the time tend to get ignored. Of course they were mostly getting whipped by the French, but David Gates in THE SPANISH ULCER managed to make them interesting in spite of this handicap. Also, the whole savage partisan war that made Wellington's operations possible is mostly ignored.
2) The book ignores or downplays some of Wellington's bad points. The man was clearly a genius, but that led him to be very unforgiving of the failures of normal people.
3) Weller followed Sir Charles Oman on the tactical details of Wellington's battles. Later research by Paddy Griffith in original documents has proven that Oman's ideas on line vs. column and British fire superiority were mostly wrong. The prolonged exchanges of musket volleys described by Weller mostly didn't take place; the redcoats usually won with ambush tactics on the defense and classic bayonet charges on the offense.
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