Good one volume history of the Peninsular War?

[vtsaogames]

I'm reading Glover's "The Peninsular War" which is an account of the British war in the Peninsula with the Spanish appearing when they must to explain how this affected the British-French confrontation. Bailen was breezed over and many other Spanish battles don't even rate a mention.

Can anyone suggest a one-volume history in English that covers the Spanish war also? I know that's a big ask. Don't think I'm up for Oman or Napier yet.

[Andrew_McGuire]

The most comprehensive accounts, giving ample space to the Spanish armies and guerillas, seem to be Charles Esdaile's The Peninsular War: A New History and David Gates' The Spanish Ulcer. I've only read part of the former, and not everyone agrees with all of Esdaile's views on the guerillas' effectiveness - or lack thereof -  but either this or Gates' similarly in-depth study would be a good place to start.

[wolfkarl]

I will second The Spanish Ulcer. It covers the Spanish army and their part in the war very well.

[robh]

I will second The Spanish Ulcer. It covers the Spanish army and their part in the war very well.

Agreed, it is the best single volume work. Bit dry in places but well worth reading, has some pictures and plenty of maps. The OOB's are excellent.

[vtsaogames]

Thank you, gentlemen.

[vtsaogames]

One more question: are the maps in the Spanish Ulcer detailed? I ask because if they are general aids then I might get the Kindle version. But if the maps are really good then I need the actual book.

[robh]

Campaign maps are simple line art showing towns, rivers, coastlines and such.

Battle maps have basic contours, roads, rivers, towns and the location and facing of involved units done in line art with simple grey shading. They show enough information to follow the written account but not to a tabletop battle level.

Kindle version would be fine.

[Antonio J Carrasco]

Agreed with The Spanish Ulcer. I would read Esdaile after Gates. Esdaile's is revisionist history, with all the problems that it entails. In my opinion, sometimes he forces too much the evidence to fit into his analysis.

[vtsaogames]

Again, thank you gentlemen for the timely advice.

[Terry37]

I've always been a fan of Jac Weller's one volume history, and was delighted to see it reprinted recently.

Terry

[vtsaogames]

Just informed of Oman's Atlas reprinted and on sale: The Oman maps have been reprinted as a separate volume, helps when reading any history.
Ordered mine - the price is right, even after postage across the pond.

[Andrew_McGuire]

I didn't mention Weller because, as the title Wellington in the Peninsula suggests, its focus is on Wellesley / Wellington, rather than the conflict as a whole, which is what the original poster enquired about. This isn't to suggest that Weller's book is deficient, as his expressed aim was to show how his subject acted based on the information available to him, which necessarily mandated a narrow focus.

With regard to maps, there is a book titled The Peninsular War Atlas by Nick Lipscombe, which according to reviews on Amazon is excellent, and also covers the activities of the Spanish armies as well as the Anglo-Portuguese.

[pete17]

Hi,

I picked up this book new for £2.99, WARGAME SCENARIOS: THE PENINSULAR WAR 1808-1814 from here: https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/wargame-scenarios-the-peninsular-war-1808-1814/which has a general overview, lots of info on units, orbats etc.

I don't know much about Napoleonics but can't be vexed with the price, cheers Pete   

[SteveBurt]

Weller's book is a good read, but a bit of a hagiography of Wellington, and as said above, doesn't cover the Spanish at all.
The Oman multi-volume set is available second hand pretty cheap, and has all the detail you could want on the Spanish (and everything else).