Featured battle : Olivenza

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 11 January 1811 - 23 January 1811

This was a very weak Spanish effort to defend an unrepaired ruin. French siege guns began arriving on the 19th and all were in place by the 22nd. The aged Governor surrendered the following day.

The Royal Navy 1800-1815

Mark Jessop
This book follows Mark Jessop’s The Royal Navy 1793-1800 [ reviewed elsewhere on this site] There have been many books written about the Royal Navy of the Napoleonic period these books are different. The difference is due to two main factors one the presentation and two the sources. The author has confined himself to primary source material mostly written within a decade of the events. This, in itself, is not so uncommon but it is the presentation of the information that makes this book almost unique and imparts a special liveliness to the ‘facts’. The author has created about twenty people who report, discuss and reflect upon events as they understand them from their stations in life in the times in which they lived. It is to the author’s credit that the voices ring true.
We warmly recommend this book to ‘beginner’ and ‘old-hand’ alike. The beginner because it makes the information so accessible and real. The old-hand because it enriches the wealth of information with a flavour of the times.

Pen & Sword History, 2019