A History of the Peninsular War: December 1810 - December 1811, Massena's Retreat, Fuendes De Onoro, Abuera, Tarragona

Rating:
Summary: Still the baseline history!
Review: In this, the fourth volume of Oman's definitive history of the Peninsular War, the author truly hits his stride. More recent histories may have new details or the benefit of different perspective, but Oman's multivolume series is still the starting point for all serious study of this conflict. Oman writes in a older style that takes a little getting used to, but he has a superb understanding of the strategic and operational levels of war. His work captures the broad sweep and complexity of a key phase of the Napoleonic Wars. If the narrative tends to be British-centric in places, he does provide evenhanded coverage of all the major players, whether British, French, Portuguese, or Spanish. His narrative in early books on tactical detail was sometimes a little vague; in the descriptions of the key battles of Fuentes de Onoro and Albuera, he has made good that earlier weakness.
This series is highly recommended for the serious student with lots of time to read. The casual reader may find it both long and challenging.