Wellington's War: His Peninsular Dispatches

Normally I would give this a 3/4 star review, but as the book isn't likely to be reviewed frequently, I'll give it a 5 to balance the other review.Rathbone has taken Wellington's written commentary on the Peninsular War from letters, dispatches, etc, and woven them into a history of the expulsion of the French from the Iberian Penisula by the British, Portugese, and Spanish. Rathbone is indeed enamored of his subject, but rightly so (I'm sure there is plenty of counterbalancing material out there). The story is told in a clear, illuminating fashion, and is exciting until the end.I found Wellington as depicted here fascinating in his own words: brilliant, farthinking, strategic, daring, bold. It took a genius to beat the genius of Napoleon. This may not be the best material for serious students of this time, but as a contextual supplement to the Cornwell Sharpe series, it is perfec