Photographs by Andy Cook, Published by Spellmount £35.

"Forget the rest, this one’s the best." Okay, so it sounds rather like a sales pitch but in this case this book deserves it. There have been one or two guides to the battlefields of the Peninsular War recently, such as Julian Paget’s solid Wellington’s Peninsu-lar War, and Donald Featherstone’s rather ridiculous Campaigning with the Duke of Wellington, but Fields of Fire really knocks them both into a hat. I suppose you could consider Jac Weller's Wellington in the Peninsula, but this does not really qualify as a guide although it is interesting to - compare the changes that have occurred in the thirty years since Weller took his photographs.

Mr. Fletcher’s vivid and graphic writing style is well enough known but his descriptions of the battlefields in this book are even more flamboyant which makes Fields of Fire a very interest-ing, informative and entertaining read. This, combined with Mr Cook’s very clear and well composed photographs - 40 in full colour - makes this the definitive book on the battlefields of the Peninsular War.

The book is divided into two distinct halves, the first, recall-ing the war, is nicely broken up with plenty of eye-witness quotes and has sections on dress, the guerrillas and weapons, etc. The second deals with the battlefields, giving lengthy accounts of what happened at each one and what they look like today.

As well as the colour photos the book contains numerous black and white pictures, the one taken from the top of La Rhune mountain being the most spectacular. It also features several paintings I had not seen before, not the usual ‘wounded piper at Vimeiro’ etc, which we see so often elsewhere.

The book oozes quality, with quality reproduction and paper and in spite of the fairly high £35 price tag is an absolute must for students of the war and, in particular, wargamers who will find the battlefield photographs of particular use.

Highly recommended.

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