Wellington in the Peninsula by Jac Weller

I bought this book well over a year ago from a local second hand book shop called Scarthin Books a book shop near Matlock Bath (in Cromford) Derbyshire. A bookshop I can not recommend enough for both second hand and new books. I have bought many a book there through many years though it has taken on a greater proportion of new books than in times past.

When I finally got round to starting reading this a month ago I thought it was going to be too infected with the need to push Wellington at the cost of all others. This was born from the introduction that talked up the companion volume that read very much that Wellington not only won the battle of Waterloo but could have done so if the Prussians did not turn up and that the other allied troops held him back!!

Fortunately I pressed on and whilst it often points out failings in some of the Spanish actions actually seems rather more balanced to both the Spanish and Portuguese than I expected. I still have no desire to buy the Waterloo book but will dive back into this book whenever we are looking to play a battle from Wellington's Peninsular period both to get a flavour of the battle but also an aid to which troops to use and the ground we will be fighting over. 

Typical of a book of this one's age the maps are not a great help but the short paragraph at the end of each chapter discussing the ground is a definite help. Indeed I am rather drawn to the idea of fighting through all the battles described in the book one after the other in a kind of campaign. What more can I say?

Amazon UK has it in paperback from 1p and in hardback from £9.99 to £16.99 for a new copy. It's also available for 99p on Kindle so a few good buys available.

I found Weller's style very easy to read and I give it a big thumbs up for those wanting something that has a nice depth to it but at the same time does not feel like your wading through facts and figures despite the fact that you are indeed doing just that.