The Light Division in the Peninsular War 1811-1814

SAUNDERS/YULL

The date appended on the end of the title is important as the Peninsular War dragged on and it was only those final years that Britain and her Portugese allies finally managed to push the French out of Portugal and Spain. It also reduces the page count to a reasonable amount, in what is still a hefty book.

Here you have the strategic situation for the battles of Salamanca and Vitoria, and the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, but also copious personal diary notes. It’s these that take the narrative from a wargame perspective to the bloody reality on the battlefield. There are illustrations, photos, maps and portraits sprinkled liberally through and the only pity is that they are all monochrome. Still, a fascinating account of the Light Division at war.

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• Pen and Sword

• ISBN 978-1-5267-7013-4

• 356 pages • Hardback • £30