
Napoleon's Cursed War
Spanish Popular Resistance in the Peninsular War, 1808-14
Ronald Fraser(Author)
Verso Books (Publisher)
Published on 10. January 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
656 pages
978-1-83976-788-3 (ISBN)
Description
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.
With a new Introduction by Perry Anderson.
With a new Introduction by Perry Anderson.
Reviews / Votes
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 * A milestone in the historiography of the war. -- Alistair Hennessy * New Left Review * Fraser has breathed life into a historic era... The real protagonist of his work is the people and their tragedy. -- Luis Ribot * El Mundo * A superb complement to Fraser's classic Blood of Spain, of 'history from below'. -- Ricardo Garcia Carcel * ABC * 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 * A magisterial reconstruction of the Peninsular war of 1808-1814 -- Tariq Ali * Guardian * This scholarly work investigates those who waged Spain's popular struggle between 1808 and 1814, and why. It's history from the ground up: momentous events lived by those whose voice is rarely heard...Fraser builds a mosaic from "shard-like" fragments, a labour of detection that would have swamped anyone with a less sure grip on the sweep of Spanish history. -- Elizabeth Nash * Independent * Superb . a fine history of the popular resistance Napoleon could not defeat. -- Chris Bambery * Counterfire *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 43 mm
Weight
715 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83976-788-3 (9781839767883)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2020
Verso Books
€33.99
Available for download
Previous edition

Book
03/2008
Verso Books
€51.50
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Ronald Fraser (1930-2012) is the author of, among other works, Blood of Spain, a celebrated oral history of the Spanish Civil War.