A History of the Peninsular War


A History of the Peninsular War is a non-fiction scholarly historical work, covering the Peninsular War in the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars, comprising seven volumes. It was written by Sir Charles Oman. Clarendon Press published the first volume in 1902 and volume seven in 1930.

About the seven volumes

This seven-volume history is described as appealing, scholarly, thorough, and definitive. The author does acknowledge politics and diplomacy throughout, but the main narrative focus seems to be on military events. Additionally, human beings on the field are the focus rather than military units "with numerical designations." The books present equal analysis to all the powers involved in the seven year conflict. Many of the important actors and decision makers in the armies of Spain, Portugal, the first French empire, and Britain are included. Oman's writing style is late Victorian, cleverly humorous, and genial in places, demonstrating a facility for story-telling. Meanwhile, he ensures the pertinent facts of the many covered events are presented.
Regarding scholarship, Oman went "through everything available" and then dug for more, discovering diaries, memoirs, military dispatches, general orders, "parliamentary papers", filed newspapers, pertinent national archives, and so on. He personally reconnoitered relevant geographical areas enabling him to give first hand descriptions of the topography. Also, Oman's "studies of personalities and their thought processes, the depth of his research."
Oman is widely perceived as unbiased with his coverage. In fact, one of his main objectives for writing this history was to counter Sir William Napier's seemingly flawed recounting of events in Napier's own six volume work entitled, "History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France." Oman perceived Napier's account as heavily biased, exaggerating Spanish defeats and minimizing Spanish successes, while also diminishing entrenched Spanish resistance which frustrated the Duke of Wellington. Interestingly, Napier had high regard for Napoleon while at the same time being critical of the Spanish. Oman also said a tremendous amount of source material had become available since publication of Napier's work, as another reason for creating this historical account.
Producing this seven volume history spanned 30 years and it demonstrates Oman's unflagging "industry, perseverance, and volume of reading." He personally reconnoitered the "very scene of action nearly all Wellington's battlefields." Appendices, lists of casualties, and clearly illustrated maps complete this endeavor.

Chronology

This history was published between 1902 and 1930 in seven volumes:
Greenhill Books of London and Stackpole Books of Pennsylvania republished all seven volumes between 1995 and 1997.

Wellington's army

Within the first nine years of researching and writing this history, Oman had also gathered other notes and materials that only tangentially correlated to "A History of Peninsular War." He wouldn't be able to use the material for this seven volume history. So, he used the material to write a different book entitled "Wellington's Army 1809—1814." It was originally published in 1913. The book includes the "organization, day by day life, and psychology" of Wellington's Army during the Peninsular War.

About the author

, was a British military historian. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering.
In 1881 he was elected to a Prize Fellowship at All Souls College, where he remained for the rest of his academic career. He was elected the Chichele Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1905, in succession to Montagu Burrows. He was also elected to the FBA that year, and served as President of the Royal Historical Society, the Numismatic Society and the Royal Archaeological Institute.
Oman's academic career was interrupted by the First World War, during which he was employed by the government's Press Bureau and the Foreign Office. Oman was the Conservative Member of Parliament for the University of Oxford constituency from 1919 to 1935, and was knighted KBE in the 1920 civilian war honours list.
He became an honorary fellow of New College in 1936, and received the honorary degrees of DCL and LL.D. He was awarded the Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society in 1928. He died at Oxford aged 86.
Oman was a published author from 1885 to 1945.