Napoleon's Cursed War
Spanish Popular Resistance in the Peninsular War, 1808-14
Published on 6. October 2020
656 pages
978-1-78960-377-4 (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.
More details
Edition
Ebook UK & RoW
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Reflowable
ISBN-13
978-1-78960-377-4 (9781789603774)
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
Book
01/2023
Verso Books
€50.95
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
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.
Content
- Cover Page
- Halftitle Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Prologue: Spain's Old Order on the Eve of the Napoleonic War
- Maps
- Glossary
- Chronology
- 1. Spain and the French Connection
- 2. Preliminaries of War
- 3. The First Shots of the War
- 4. Declaration of War: The National Rising
- 5. New Self-Government: The Juntas
- 6. Early Victories and Defeats: Lessons of the Popular War
- 7. Soldiers at the Front and Rural Conflict in the Rear
- 8. Fatherland and Nation: A National Patriotic Government
- 9. Napoleon's 1808 Offensive
- 10. The Contagion of Defeat: Popular Revolts and Local Resistance
- 11. 1809
- 12. Popular Territorial Liberation Struggles: Galicia and Cataluña
- 13. The Church at War
- 14. Origins of the Guerrilla
- 15. From the Battle of Talavera to the Suprema's Demise
- 16. 1810-1811
- 17. The Invisible Army: Guerrilla Successes and Failures
- 18. 1812-1814
- 19. Military Victory and Political Defeat
- Epilogue
- Appendix 1: May 2, 1808, Rising, Madrid: Identified Combatants by Occupation/Gender, Casualties and French Executions
- Appendix 2
- Appendix 3: Popular Social Change and Stasis
- Appendix 4: Guerrillas
- Appendix 5: Human Costs of War (and Peace)
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
