Title Details

This is the first book to examine in detail the role of one of the most important fortifications in military history, the Lines of Torres Vedras in the Peninsular War. In 1809 the French armies controlled almost every Spanish province and only Wellington's small force in Portugal stood between Napoleon and the conquest of Iberia. The French invaded Portugal but found their way blocked by the greatest range of field fortifications the world had ever seen—the Lines of Torres Vedras. Unable to penetrate the Lines, the French were driven back into Spain having suffered the heaviest defeat yet experienced by Napoleon's armies. From the security of the Lines, Wellington was then able to mount the offensive campaigns which ultimately brought him victory in the Peninsula. This is an account of the planning, construction, and occupation of the Lines and of the battles, sieges, and horrors of the French invasion. It is also a challenging new study of Wellington's strategy during the crucial years of the Peninsular War.