As a result of enormous demand, Sir Charles Oman’s monumental seven volume History of the Peninsular War is to be published for the first time as a paperback. Volumes one and two, 1807-1809 From The Treaty of Fontainebleau to the Battle of Corunna and January To September 1809 From the Battle of Corunna to the end of the Talavera Campaign, will be available in the Spring, with the subsequent volumes published through the rest of 2004 and 2005. The 1807–1814 war in the Iberian Peninsula was one of the most significant and influential campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars. Arising from Napoleon’s strategic necessity to impose his rule over Portugal and Spain, it evolved into a constant drain on his resources. Sir Charles Oman’s history of the campaign is an unrivalled and essential work. His extensive use and analysis of French, Spanish, Portuguese and British participants’ accounts and archival material, together with his own inspection of the battlefields, provides a comprehensive and balanced account of this most important episode in Napoleonic military history. It is quite simply the definitive history of the Peninsular War written by one of Britain’s greatest and most celebrated historians. The first part of Sir Charles Oman’s classic history provides the background to the war and its origins, and covers the early stages of the conflict. Introducing the subject and many of its main players, this volume recounts the French invasion of Portugal and the forcible deposition of the Spanish royal family, the beginning of Spanish popular resistance, the arrival of the British in the Iberian Peninsula, the first victories of Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington), Napoleon’s personal participation in the Spanish campaign, the French surrender at Baylen, and Sir John Moore’s terrible retreat, ending with his death in the hour of victory at the Battle of Corunna. The fate of the Iberian Peninsula was very much in the balance during the period January–September 1809, when it seemed all too possible that Napoleon would achieve control over Spain and Portugal. Volume two covers the continuing Spanish resistance to French occupation, the renewed French invasion of Portugal, and the return to the Peninsula and subsequent victories of Sir Arthur Wellesley, including his outmanoeuvring of the French from Oporto and culminating in the hard-fought victory at Talavera. All seven volumes are well over 500 pages each and contain hundreds of maps and plans. Together they represent the finest resource on the Peninsular War available. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 127 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com