The Forgotten War Against Napoleon

“A comprehensive look at the Mediterranean and adjacent territories, a largely ‘forgotten’ theatre of the very long Anglo-French war.” —New York Military Affairs Symposium

The campaigns fought against Napoleon in the Iberian Peninsula, in France, Germany, Italy and Russia and across the rest of Europe have been described and analyzed in exhaustive detail, yet the history of the fighting in the Mediterranean has rarely been studied as a separate theater of the conflict. Gareth Glover sets this right with a compelling account of the struggle on land and at sea for control of a region that was critical for the outcome of the Napoleonic Wars. The story of this twenty-year conflict is illustrated with numerous quotes from a large number of primary sources, many of which are published here for the first time.

“This is a well researched and well written account of the most complex long term military commitment for Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, involving multiple theatres spread out over a large area, cooperation between the Navy and the Army, an ever changing cast of senior officers, opponents and allies, often made more complex by the time taken to get messages from London to the officers in the field.” —History of War