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Ensign Charles Paget's previously unpublished diary of the Peninsular War is an important discovery for two reasons. The regiment in which he served - the 52nd Foot - was one of the three most famous in the Duke of Wellington's army, yet it is covered sparsely in the spate of memoirs, diaries and collections of correspondence generated by the conflict. It is also the only genuine diary covering the Battle of Vimeiro and the campaign of Sir John Moore. AUTHORS: Professor Charles J. Esdaile is one of the leading historians of the Napoleonic era and holds a personal chair at the University of Liverpool. His wide-ranging history of Napoleon's attempt to conquer Spain and Portugal, The Peninsular War: A New History, and his international history of the Napoleonic period, Napoleon's Wars, are classic works on the subject. Among his many other books are The Duke of Wellington and the Command of the Spanish Army 1812-14, Fighting Napoleon: Guerrillas, Bandits and Adventurers in Spain 1808-1814, Peninsular Eyewitnesses: The Experience of War in Spain and Portugal 1808-1814 and Women in the Peninsular War. Mark Reed discovered Charles Paget's previously unpublished diary among family papers and, realising its importance for the history of the Peninsular War, collaborated with Professsor Charles Esdaile to bring it to publication. The complete text of Paget's diary is reproduced here, edited and with detailed notes and an extended introduction by Charles Esdaile, one of the most distinguished historians of the period. In order to give the reader contrasting views of episodes which Paget records, he has brought in first-hand accounts written by other Peninsular veterans, featuring the battle of Vimeiro and the action at Cacabelos. The result is a valuable addition to the literature devoted to the British participation in the Peninsular War. It gives a fresh insight into events in the campaigns, the conditions in Portugal and Spain, and the experience of the soldiers who fought there. 20 b/w images

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9781526737953

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Ensign Charles Paget was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Second Battalion of the 52nd Regiment of Foot in February 1808, fought at the Battle of Vimeiro and was evacuated with the rest of Sir John Moore's army after the Battle of Corunna. He served in the Walcheren expedition and later returned to the Peninsula and fought at the Battles of Nivelle and Nive in 1814\. He lived on after the war into the 1840s and was connect to the influential Paget family, two of whose members - Henry Paget and Sir Edward Paget - played notable parts in the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns. Professor Charles J. Esdaile is one of the leading historians of the Napoleonic era and holds a personal chair at the University of Liverpool. His wide-ranging history of Napoleon's attempt to conquer Spain and Portugal, The Peninsular War: A New History, and his international history of the Napoleonic period, Napoleon's Wars, are classic works on the subject. Among his many other books are The Duke of Wellington and the Command of the Spanish Army 1812-14, Fighting Napoleon: Guerrillas, Bandits and Adventurers in Spain 1808-1814, Peninsular Eyewitnesses: The Experience of War in Spain and Portugal 1808-1814 and Women in the Peninsular War. Mark Reed discovered Charles Paget's previously unpublished diary among family papers and, realizing its importance for the history of the Peninsular War, collaborated with Professsor Charles Esdaile to bring it to publication.

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