The British Soldier in the Peninsular War: Encounters with Spain and Portugal, 1808-1814

by G. Daly

Overview

Combining military and cultural history, the book explores British soldiers' travels and cross-cultural encounters in Spain and Portugal, 1808-1814. It is the story of how soldiers interacted with the local environment and culture, of their attitudes and behaviour towards the inhabitants, and how they wrote about all this in letters and memoirs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349458820
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Series:	War, Culture and Society, 1750-1850
Edition description:	1st ed. 2013
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Gavin Daly is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. To the Peninsula 2. First Contact: Lisbon 3. Landscape and Climate 4. Billets and Hospitality 5. Searching for Civilization 6. The Religious World 7. 'Dark-Eyed Beauties' Conclusion: Crossing to Civilization

Editorial Reviews

"Between 1808 and 1814 many British soldiers found a substitute for the traditional 'grand tour' in the 'tour de force' represented by the Peninsular War. In this book, meanwhile, we have a 'tour de force' of another kind: as comprehensive as it is elegant, it should catapult its author to the very forefront of the historiography." - Professor Charles J. Esdaile, University of Liverpool, UK

From the Publisher