Napoleonic Lives

Two hundred years ago the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars convulsed the whole of Europe. These were key events in the history of the continent, and for Britain, and they are a fascinating field for historical – and family history – research. More records than ever are available on the men who served in the British army during the wars – and on their families - and Carole Divall's new book is the perfect guide to how to locate and understand these sources - and get the most out of them. She gives a vivid insight into what soldiers' lives were like during the period and shows how much of their experience can be recovered from the records. 

Using the full range of sources - contemporary military records, correspondence, diaries, memoirs – she reconstructs in detail the stories of a representative group of individuals who took part in the wars - a soldier who saw action as a marine in the Mediterranean fleet, a Gordon Highlander who was taken prisoner, riflemen who served at Walcheren, in the Peninsula and at Waterloo, artillerymen who played a crucial role in battles and in sieges, a gentry family whose sons served as officers in the Peninsula and in India, and two remarkable women who were among the many who went to war with the men.

Carole Divall's informative and accessible book will be essential reading and reference for anyone who wants to find out about the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and is keen to understand the part an ancestor played in them.

---

Some books that may interest you

Gunther Pluschow By: Anton Rippon	De Havilland Comet By: Colin Higgs	A Salute to One of 'The Few' By: Simon St John Beer
Eagles in the Dust By: Adrian Coombs-Hoar	Operation Oyster: WW II's Forgotten Raid By: Kees Rijken, Paul Schepers, Arthur Thorning	Defending Britain's Skies 1940-1945 By: John Grehan, Martin Mace
Trapped Behind Enemy Lines By: John Anderson, Victor Piuk	Into Battle By: E W Parker	Flight Craft 16: The Hawker Hunter in British Service [Kindle] By: Martin Derry, Neil Robinson
Billericay in the Great War By: Ken Porter, Stephen Wynn	Battle Beneath the Trenches By: Robert K. Johns	The Sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo 1810 and 1812 By: Major Tim Saunders
The Very Thing By: Jonathan Crook	The Lincoln Funeral By: Michael Leavy	The Night Hunter's Prey By: Iain Gordon