Napoleon's Cursed War: Spanish Popular Resistance in the Peninsular War, 180814

(Paperback)

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In this definitive account of the Peninsular War (180814), Napoleons six-year war against Spain, Ronald Fraser examines what led to the emperors devastating defeat against the popular oppositionthe guerrillasand 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 massesthe artisans, peasants and women who fought, suffered and diedand 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 Napoleons 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 Tariq Ali.

Reviews

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 *

Author Bio

Ronald Fraser (19302012) is the author of, among other works, Blood of Spain, a celebrated oral history of the Spanish Civil War.