Book Review:
Wellington's Peninsular Army

By James Lawford
Artwork by Michael Roffe

 

Britain's army at the start of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was an ordinary outfit with poor organisation, limited tactical know-how and weapons that hadn't changed in 100 years.

By the end of the Peninsular War, the Duke of Wellington had transformed it into a fighting machine that could beat the best in Europe - the French - even when outnumbered.

In Wellington's Peninsular Army, James Lawford examines the British army between 1808 and 1814 from its staff, right down to the fighting soldier.

There is a short section on staff officers and then the book is divided into sections on the infantry, cavalry, artillery, sieges and sappers.

Within these chapters he then looks at organisation of the various arms, their weapons, tactics and how they operated in battle.

I must say that in 40 pages - which include eight pages of colour plates - Lawford has packed a huge amount of information that will explain everything you need to know.

The colour plates by Michael Roffe are nicely illustrated and contain the major uniform styles of the army. There are also more than 30 black and white images of battles, personalities and weapons.

If you are interested in the Peninsular War then you will find this edition extremely handy.

- Richard Moore

8.5/10

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