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30 Works 780 Members 11 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Charles J. Esdaile has been a member of staff in the Department of History at the University of Liverpool since 1989. Awarded a personal chair in 2004, he is the author of numerous works on the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the history of modern Spain, including The Spanish Civil War show more (2018), Wars of the French Revolution: 1792-1801 (2018), Napoleon, France and Waterloo: The Eagle Rejected (2016), Burgos: Occupation, Siege, Aftermath, 1808-1814 (2014), Women in the Peninsular War (2014), Napoleon's Wars: An International History (2007) and The Peninsular War: A New History (2002). show less

Works by Charles Esdaile

The wars of Napoleon (1995) 26 copies
Fighting Napoleon (2004) 16 copies
Walking Waterloo: A Guide (2019) 6 copies

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Ákaflega viðamikil saga sem lýsir uppgangi Napóleons Bónaparte, hernaði hans í byrjun 19. aldar þegar hann sigraði hvert ríkið á fætur öðru og að lokum ósigrum hans og niðurlægingu.
Esdaile beinir athygli sinni fyrst og fremst að alþjóðastjórnmálum þessa tíma, skoðanaskiptum fyrirmanna í ríkjunum sem komu að Evrópuhernaðinum en horfir síður til samfélagssögunnar, efnahagshluta hennar né hernaðinum þótt hann gleymi þessum atriðum ekki alfarið.
Þetta er ágætist rit til að fá yfirgripsmikla þekkingu á þessu tímabili og ég fræddist heilmikið um hluti sem voru mér ókunnir. Hins vegar fór í taugarnar á mér að Esdaile útskýrði mikið af ákvörðunum Napóleons sem afleiðing mikilmennskubrálæðis, þorsta eftir frægð og drambs auk þess sem hann kallaði þá sem mæltu ákvörunum franska keisarans bót ýmist Napóleon elskendur eða afsökunarsinna.
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SkuliSael | 3 other reviews | Apr 28, 2022 |
Napoleon Bonaparte's decision in 1808 to occupy Spain typically is ranked second only to his invasion to Russia in terms of the disastrous mistakes made by the French emperor. What began as a swift military operation soon degenerated into an "ulcer" that tied down thousands of troops, slowly bleeding France's strength. For this reason, the Peninsular War has never wanted for attention, especially among British historians who have long chronicled the campaigns waged by Arthur Wellesley in his ascent to glory as the Duke of Wellington.

Yet for all of the attention the war has received Charles Esdaile is able to offer something different from most English-language accounts of the war, which is a Spanish-centric focus. This allows him to highlight a number of important points lacking from previous accounts, not the least of which is the importance of the war to the history of Spain itself. This self-evident point is detailed superbly in his book, which shows how the French occupation played into Spanish politics. Dominated by the royal favorite Manuel Godoy, Spain agreed in 1807 to support France invasion of Portugal. Godoy's unpopularity with both the Spanish public and the heir, the future Ferdinand VII, did little to warm the Spanish political nation to their involvement. The political crisis created by the Mutiny of Aranjuez gave Napoleon the opportunity to intervene by exploiting the request to arbitrate the succession crisis between Ferdinand and his father Charles IV by installing his own brother Joseph as king.

Esdaile is sympathetic to el rey intruso, presenting Joseph as a man with good intentions thrust by his younger brother onto a throne he did not desire. These intentions were often thwarted by Spain's limited resources (which Napoleon expected to finance the occupation) and by the war. Esdaile does not minimize the brutality of the conflict, detailing the outrages and atrocities committed on all sides. He is particularly judgmental about the sometimes romanticized guerrilleros, viewing them as having a negligible military impact and describing how they were often viewed as the greater evil by many Spaniards. Esdaile is no less critical of the activities of the Spanish junta and their armies, though he gives them due credit for their performance n several battles.

Nonetheless Esdaile argues that for all of the efforts of the junta and the Anglo-Portuguese army to resist the French occupation, the French were enjoying considerable success in establishing control over Spain prior to 1812. In this respect, the key event in Spain's liberation was not any one battle or domestic political development but Napoleon's decision to invade Russia, which resulted in the withdrawal of French units necessary for maintaining control. Facing a weakened opponent, the Spanish-Anglo-Portuguese forces were able to unravel French control, driving French forces out fo most of Spain by 1814 and setting Spain down a path of political turmoil that would last for over a century.

Esdaile's arguments may challenge the assumptions of some of his readers about the war, but his arguments are difficult to deny. Based on an impressive range of Spanish, English, and French sources, they offer a valuable multi-dimensional account of a complicated and often vicious conflict. While his prose is often blunt, his combined analysis of military operations and Spanish politics make his book necessary reading for anyone interested in the Peninsular War or the history of modern Spain. Though it will hardly be the final word on the subject it will long be one that people will need to consult to understand this event and its lasting repercussions for all involved.
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MacDad | 2 other reviews | Mar 27, 2020 |
The Battle of Waterloo was, in Wellington’s famous phrase, a “near-run thing,” and if Wellington had not been present, he would have lost. In this book, Charles Esdaile ably makes the argument that, even if Wellington had lost the battle, Napoleon would have lost the war. He would have lost it because, one, France was badly divided by Napoleon’s return, and, two, he was faced by overwhelming numbers of enemies who would not have pulled out of the war because of a single battlefield defeat.… (more)
½
 
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charbonn | May 31, 2019 |
This is an excellent treatment of the War in Iberia. We visit the politics of England, Spain, Portugal, France and Great Britain to create a remarkably clear picture of what happened from 1807 to 1815 in the Peninsula. Both the Parliaments and the battlefields had great effects on the time and Charles Esdaile has created a masterly synthesis. The weakest point is the dull mapping style, and the collection of the maps into a clumsy mass which taxes the readers' ability to flip rapidly from one section of the book to this selection. But, it is a small drawback to a book that will continue to influence the serious student of this war for at least this generation.… (more)
½
1 vote
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DinadansFriend | 2 other reviews | May 29, 2016 |

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