The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War

Most military history books quickly become embedded in politics and economics, and in the process fail to complete their analysis of the military aspects of the history.In this book Gates has maintained his focus all the way through the book, on the Military campaigns. Any politics or economics are introduced only to explain logistical difficulties or broad trends in strategic direction.In most English focused histories Wellington is portrayed as some kind of superman who went out to Spain and roundly defeated one French army after another. Gates shows how far this is from the actual truth. He highlights the crucial role played by Peninsular forces, who fielded one army after another to keep the French busy. He demonstrates how the partisan guerilla war prevented the French from concentrating against Wellington to drive him out.At the same time he demonstrates just why Wellington was the greatest soldier of his age. How he used intelligence and patience as his weapons. How he always selected his preferred battleground to gain maximum advantage against the French, who were after all, masterful foes. Wellington was the master of Soult, Ney and Massena, but not by much. He admitted that he would have lost if Napolean had been there himself.Gates lavishes praise on the abilities of the French to survive in the harsh environment of the Peninsula, and at the same time extolls the mastery of the British use of naval support to outflank their gallic rivals.From an Irish perspective it is interesting to note the large number of Irish named Generals fighting for the Spanish, the English and the French. Blake, Clarke, O'Donnell, Lacy and O'Neill to name only a few.If I had any criticism of this book it would be on the way maps are presented. You always have to check which way is north. I prefer when North is the top of the page! Otherwise the large numbers of maps of all scales are a very useful tool in interpretation of the movements in the battles.Gates is also helpful in giving the reader a brief introduction to the tactics of Napoleonic armies, explaining the purpose of line, column and square, the flanking manoevre, use of the reverse slope, the use of Cavalry V Infantry etc. A really wonderful book!

David Gates' book is probably the best book on the subject of the eight year Spanish campaign that helped defeat Napoloen and his French Empire. The book proves to be superbly well written and very easy to read. Its a history book on general regular war in Spain, looking closely at battles and individual campaigns which made up this war. As one of the earlier reviewers wrote that it really doesn't go into that much details about politics, people or guerillas. I supposed for an one volume book, there probably isn't enough pages to due justice if Gates spread out too thinly. With this in mind, this book with its extremely readable writing, should be part of every Napoleonic library.

David Gates' treatment of the Iberian conflict has no equal and remains the best single-volume history of Napoleon's unfortunate Spanish adventure. Far superior to Michael Glover's PENINSULAR WAR, Gates' work is comprehensive, well-researched and clearly written. I just finished my 6th reading and continue to enjoy it.Unlike most British Peninsular authors Gates follows in the footsteps of Oman and gives a balanced objective account giving credit to both the conventional and irregular Spanish forces, and does a masterful job of dealing with the French as well. I find, happily, that he eschews the usual hero-worship of Wellington and does find the Iron Duke human after all (particularly some of his ill-advised sieges). He accompanies his solid research with a useful chronology, some short biographical details, and some very good order of battle work. The work is marred by execrable maps (perhaps drawn by a child) and the all too often use of "sullen." I am happy to see that it's coming soon to paperback. I was most pleased to see information on the little-known Marshal Suchet and his long-suffering Army of Aragon. Buy it & enjoy it!

Many English language accounts of the Peninsular War disproportionately glorify the contributions of Wellington and the British. While Wellington and his relatively small army did make key contributions, the real heroes of the struggle that lead to the downfall of Napoleon, not only in Spain but in Europe, were the Spanish people. Gate's book goes farther than most in recognizing the often-ignored contribution of the guerrillas, the Spanish military and the populance in general in resisting Napoleon.

If you only want to a have one book on the Peninsular War, this is it. This is a great account of the battles and campaigns fought in Spain & Portugal during the Napoleonic Wars. In over 550 pages of text the author, David Gates, offers the reader a detailed account of the fighting with a non-bias point of view. He offers assessments of the opposing Generals and their forces and covers the political and social background of the times. The only fault I could find with this book would be the standard of the maps. They are sufficient in number and assist the reader in following the fighting but could have been of a better quality and detail. The author also provides a number of B & W photographs. Overall this is one of the best single volume accounts on this subject and well worth the time to read."Using French & Spanish as well as British material, he presents the first brief and balanced account of the war to have appeared within our generation. As the first work of a new young military historian it is a major achievement, and I hope that we shall see many more from his pen". - Michael Howard, Oxford UniversityJust for information the book was first published in 1986 and the author was a Lecturer at the Centre for Defence Studies at the University of Aberdeen.