A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 5, Oct. 1811-Aug. 31, 1812 : Valencia,…

This volume captures the ten months when the Peninsular War pivoted decisively in favor of the Anglo-Portuguese forces. Charles Oman, writing with the meticulous detail that defined his generation of military historians, traces Wellington's remarkable transition from defensive commander to aggressive offensive leader. The narrative unfolds through the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, brutal assaults that shattered French dominance in western Spain, before culminating in the Battle of Salamanca, where Wellington's tactical genius routed King Joseph Bonaparte's army and opened the road to Madrid. Oman draws on dispatches, diaries, and archival sources to reconstruct not merely the movements of armies but the human calculus of siege warfare: the engineering, the casualties, the moments when courage and calculation collided. For anyone seeking to understand how Napoleon's seemingly invincible forces began their unraveling in Iberia, this volume offers the most detailed account of a critical turning point.