Against All Hazards:
Poems of the Peninsula War
Book Review
review by Paul Chamberlain
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Author: Harry Turner
Here is an unusual book. Most people are familiar with the poetry of World War One, but no participant of the Napoleonic conflict produced such prose to relate and describe his experiences. Harry Turner has produced such a book of poems that recalls the British victories in the Peninsular Campaign and illustrates the deprivations and bravery of the British soldier. To me, this is ‘proper’ poetry, in that it rhymes and makes sense! The message and meaning is evident, and no deep thought is required to understand the poems. It is very much poetry in the style of Kipling, and is unashamedly patriotic. As Ian Fletcher says about the poems in his introduction,’There is no pretentious message, no anti-war sentiment, no criticism of generals, nor any religious slant. They are simply a memorial to all those British soldiers who gave everything for King and Country between 1808 and 1814’. The poems are published in chronological order from the Convention of Cintra to Fuentes de Onoro to Badajoz to Madrid and to Paris. There are 27 poems in total, each illustrated with a suitable picture, and they depict not only the major battles and sieges but also the daily life of a soldier on campaign.
A drunkard and a brute, But feted as a hero When the cannons start to shoot. This verse is taken from Entente Cordiale, about British and French soldiers who, while prepared to do their duty and shoot at one another, could find the occasion to fraternise and exchange small tobacco for wine,
And sweating men drew solace, From another fellow’s smile. The author knows his subject matter well, as each poem is based upon actual historical events. Indeed, Harry Turner penned his first poem after having been on a tour to the battlefield of Albuera. Many of the poems have footnotes placing the text in its historical context. Each poem is a story in its own right, and some are very moving and evocative, such as Two Women, about two women from very different social backgrounds who lose their men folk in the Peninsula. Badajoz is a particularly long rhyme telling in detail the story of that bloody siege and its aftermath:
Surveys his butchered dead, For the first time on the battlefield, He weeps for those he’s led. Each poem makes for easy reading, and those who write and lecture on Napoleonic subjects will find thought-provoking prose to include in their own work. Visitors to the battlefields of the Peninsular Campaign will discover the book to be an evocative account of those actions. Against All Hazards is an unusual and different way of publishing an account of the Napoleonic Wars, but interesting and enjoyable none the less. More Reviews
Against All Hazards: Poems of the Peninsula War With Napoleon in Russia: The Illustrated Memoirs of Faber du Faur, 1812 Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #61 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |