"Masséna at Bay 1811: The Lines of Torres Vedras to" Topic

Fuentes de Oñoro

"The 1810 French invasion of Portugal, commanded by the veteran marshal André Masséna, who was known to Napoleon as the ‘Spoilt Child of Victory' has been well covered by historians. Conversely, the shock revelation of the presence of the Lines of Torres Vedras baring the French Army of Portugal's way to their objective of Lisbon, and numerous combats through to the Battle of Funtes de Oñoro, has been frequently and unjustifiably glossed over.

This book, starting with the occupation of the Lines of Torres Vedras, which were at the heart of Wellington's Peninsular strategy from October 1809-1812, is the story of Wellington's pursuit of Masséna back to Spain. This was a time when the Peninsular Army was still being forged and Wellington was refining his own art of war. In addition, 1810-1811 was a period when the outcome of the struggle in Iberia was still far from certain, and Wellington could not manoeuvre with the same confidence in the outcome as he could in future years…"

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Armand

This is an excellent memoir of the campaign in Portugal by Massena's first ADC:

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Presumably this thread has to be deleted as the book hasn't appeared yet so it can't be a review? Why on earth would you want to provide a service to people who are interested in the Napoleonic period?

Thanks!.

Armand

I mentioned this book at the end of one of my posts on the 13th August, in the Multi-author book topic. It is one of two books I plan to buy next, the other being the novel Sharpe's Assassin which is due out on the same day.

Pelet's book looks a must have but I vowed not to buy any further titles until the end of this month. However, I did technically break the vow by buying a copy of the 3rd volume in Digby Smith's Napoleon's German Division in Spain which I found by accident (honest). But I didn't count it as actually breaking the vow because it wasn't a new title or rather, a title being published this year. I'll have to be more specific with my vows. LOL

But I'm looking forward to seeing this book and the latest Sharpe novel and I will obtain Pelet's title as some point.

Best of luck my good friend!… (smile)

Armand

Armand

I'll need it! But, in terms of luck, in this case bad luck in a way, my budget is far too low at the moment to consider buying any books anyway. However, I'm hoping for an improvement by the end of the month. I want those two books!!! LOL

You are not alone in that matter my good friend… (smile)

Books became expensive now… (specially here in the far South)…

Armand

Not sure if is due to the pandemic, driver shortage, petrol shortage, Brexit or whatever, but there appears to be a delay in obtaining this title because delivery estimate dates offered by some booksellers are saying it will be between mid- October and late November! Not to worry, at least it will give me some time to reduce that unread mountain of mine. LOL

My copy has now arrived and it's a beautifully produced book as we've come to expect from Pen & Sword. It's also very nicely illustrated as we've come to expect from Mr Saunders. There's a portrait "believed to be of Henriette Leberton" which I don't recall seeing previously and which might explain why Massena was distracted from his day job. I look forward to starting it but "Sharpe's Assassin" is currently at the top of the hoist.

I am pleased to say that, despite the previous long estimates, my copy arrived today (2nd Oct). However, a quick glance through and it looks very heavily illustrated, including a fair amount of Napoleonic reenactor photos, and swords, hats etc. Nice to look at but I would have preferred more photos of the combat areas. Contains no colour prints or photos. Still, we'll see how it reads when I can get around to it.

Last Thursday my copy of Sharpe's Assassin also arrived. I'm really looking forward to reading both titles but they will have to wait and remain in the yet to read pile for now. I have so many others to read first and I'm three quarters the way through two books. But you never know, they might just jump to the top. LOL

Found myself reading Massena At Bay to see what it is like to read and how the narrative flows. It seemed fine until page 6. Here, at the bottom of page 6, the author mentions Wellington moving most of his forces north to Beira. I looked to see where Beira might be on the accompanying map on page 7. Unfortunately, the map does not show it. It does show a Leira, so the reader could think the author has written Beira by mistake in the narrative and it had been missed in the editing?

However, just to be sure, I checked out Lipscombe's excellent Peninsular Atlas and Beira appears to be an area or province rather than a town, city or village. On Lipscombe's map (page 59) it covers the area between Leiria (Lipscombe's spelling) and Almeida. Not a big problem, I suppose but some readers may not have a copy of Lipscombe's atlas to hand. There is always the internet of course but I do hope this is not a sign of things to come. It is just a shame the author did not mention it was a region or had it shown as such on the map.

The book does not contain a bibliography or reading list. The only sources mentioned are those indicated in the notes section which generally relate to extracts included within the book. Again, not too big a problem but I was surprised there wasn't a bibliography or source list, especially after the author thanked those who provided him with books and his reliance on online sources.

Wellington and Siege Warfare in Spain …

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Armand

What a very tired rehash of traditional thought. Hope he didn't get a First for that?