NAPOLEON'S WAR IN SPAIN

3-14220

In the early 1800s, the Spanish Ulcer was for the French what the Eastern Front was for the Germans in 1941-45 or Vietnam was for the Americans. This book devotes itself to the war in Spain and ignores the campaigns in Portugal, where the French suffered their worst defeats. The treatment is strongly pro-French but told with fine narration and balance. Each chapter covers a single year of the struggle.

The authors stress three major contributing factors to French defeat: the inability of the senior generals to work under King Joseph of Spain, Napoleon's brother and appointee; the popular hostility to French rule; and Wellington's great tactical skills. There has been no important French work devoted to this struggle published since the 1820s. A welcome addition to any collection, this book is lavishly illustrated in black and white complemented by 24 pages in full color