Overview

In this definitive account of the Peninsular War (1808-14), Napoleon's six-year war against Spain, Ronald Fraser examines what led to the emperor's devastating defeat against the popular opposition-the guerrillas-and their British and Portuguese allies. As well as relating the histories of the great political and military figures of the war, Fraser brings to life the anonymous masses-the artisans, peasants and women who fought, suffered and died-and restores their role in this barbaric war to its rightful place while overturning the view that this was a straightforward military campaign. This vivid, meticulously researched book offers a distinct and profound vision of ""Napoleon's Vietnam"" and shows the reality of the disasters of war: the suffering, discontents and social upheaval that accompanied the fighting.

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9781844670826

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Fraser hasre-created a world, barely glimpsed by previous historians, of theSpanish popular resistance and suffering during the anti-Napoleonic war An excellent work.--Carlos Martinez Shaw

Fraser has re-created a world, barely glimpsed by previous historians, of the Spanish popular resistance and suffering during the anti-Napoleonic war ... An excellent work. --Carlos Martinez Shaw, El Pais <br><br> Napoleon's Cursed War marks a fundamental milestone in the war's historiography, both past and future. It is a superb complement to Fraser's classic Blood of Spain , of 'history from below.' --Ricardo Garcia Carcel, ABC <br><br> Fraser has breathed life into a historic era... The real protagonist of his work is the people and their tragedy. --Luis Ribot, El Mundo <br><br> Like Goya in The Disasters of War , Fraser has engraved in the written word the spirit and sacrifices of the popular anti-Napoleonic resistance, a precursor of the anti-fascist resistance of the [Spanish] Civil War. --Andreu Mayayo, El Periodico de Catalunya

Author Information

Ronald Fraser (1930-2012) is the author of, among other works, Blood of Spain, a celebrated oral history of the Spanish Civil War.

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