Webber’s memoirs cover the period up to 16th June 1813, just before the battle of Vitoria and provide and interesting first-hand account of the day-to-day life in Wellington’s army.

Stuart Asquith, Author

This journal is much more than simply a ‘good read’. From a historiographical perspective Webber’s account is more useful, and potentially more reliable, than most of the period. Due to it being a diary, which was not edited by its own author, Webber’s journal is free from the influence of Napier. Napier, who served in the Peninsula, wrote the first history of the war, and his focus on heroic Brits triumphing despite the incompetence of their Spanish allies influenced the work of many who published accounts of their experiences after his work. Furthermore, accounts from the Royal Artillery are rare, and Webber’s writing is so detailed that it is possible to establish a great deal about the wider strategic situation facing General Rowland Hill’s detachment, which remains a relatively neglected topic of the period.
Rich in detail and wonderfully entertaining, Webber’s diary is essential reading for all those seeking to understand what it was really like to be on the frontline during the Napoleonic Wars. This book therefore represents a welcome addition to the renaissance of Peninsular War journal publication which Frontline Books has led in recent years.

Zack White, Freelance