Published by The Windrush Press (1996) First published in 1963. Reprinted as part of their "Great Battles Series." Price £12.99
ISBN 0-900624-01
166 pages, 18 black and white plates, 6 maps.

This is a reprint of a work that many of us older Napoleonic enthusiasts will have read before, and indeed, this was one of the first books on the Peninsular Campaign I ever acquired.

The book is divided into four sections: Wellington and Massena covers the Battle of Busaco in 1810 and the withdrawal to the lines of Torres Vedras. Wellington and Marmont describes the sieges of the fortresses of Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and Salamanca in 1812. Wellington and King Joseph includes the advance on Madrid and Vittoria in 1813. The final section, Wellington and Soult, covers the Pyrenees, the Nivelle and the advance into France, culminating in the Battle of Toulouse.

The prologue introduces the conflict in the Peninsula with Wellesley's arrival and his early victories of Vimeiro and Talavera. This section is very much an overview of the beginnings of the campaign in that theatre. In a book of this size it is not possible to cover every aspect of the period 1810-1814 in great detail, and indeed, since this book was first published there have been many other more detailed works produced to cover this era. However, it is a good introduction to the subject for the price, and a very good read. Wellington's Peninsular Victories contains notes on the weapons used; orders-of-battle for the Anglo-Portuguese Army at each action; and a bibliography.

If you do not know much about this subject, then this book will be a very good general work to read, at a reasonable price. Students of long-standing will probably have the first edition on their shelves, plus later works, and so will have no need of this volume.

Other Book Reviews:

Imperial Bayonets
British Forces in the West Indies
Recollections of Rifleman Harris
Nelson's Battles
Origins of the French Revolutionary Wars
Anatomy of Glory

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