Mr. Glover an independent historian and author with over forty titles published concerning the Napoleonic Wars gives us a taste of the professional British Army fighting Napoleon, with sometimes questionable allies. What did the average British soldier dispatched to the Iberian Peninsula think of the war and their part in it? What was daily living like? Who was a good officer who was a bad one? This gives a very good account of the British Army far from home tasked with stopping Napoleon from controlling the continent.

As the title says, this book contains a vast documentation of british soldier's experiences during the Peninsular Wars told from the PoV of the soldiers (mostly officers) themselves in their letters home.

Compared to other books of the matter, this one focuses only on the personal recollections closer to the time of the wars and discards autobiographies and/or historical fiction books that were published decades after the Napoleonic Wars, because many descriptions of the adventures at the time were filled with extravagant situations that must be taken with a grain of salt. Which makes this book a valuable insight of the time and provides room to ponder what's left out and compare their experiences with ones coming from the perspective of the civilians of the places they invaded.

Great book for anyone interested in a more academic examination of the Napoleonic wars period of history.

This is a very thorough depiction of life during the Peninsular Wars displayed in the words of soldiers of the time. It wasn't the most readable history book I have ever read, so more recommended for those studying history rather than those with a casual interest.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

What was life like in Wellington's Army? In this book the answer to that question comes from the soldiers themselves. In their letters home they wrote about all aspects of life on the front, the problems of getting there in the first place, the endless waiting, the foreign food, the local inhabitants, the drill, slaughter and mayhem, as well as losing comrades, missing home and fighting a (more or less) respected enemy. The letters give in an insight into the banality of warfare which is often difficult to reconcile with the brutality we usually think of when it comes to war.
Gareth Glover looks at all aspects of daily life of soldiers, even if the main focus lies on officers, not on common soldiers, which might have provided a slightly different angle. It still gives us valuable insight that later memoirs probably cannot provide. But it is also interesting to see what the letters did not contain: the soldiers' own participation in pillaging and raping the local population on their march through Europe.