A History of the Peninsular War 1807-1809

De: Charles Oman

Narrado por: Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot

FNH Audio presents a reading of Charles Oman's classic military history A History of the Peninsular War. In this first volume, a detailed examination is made of the first years of the war, 1807 to 1809. The campaign is examined from both sides using reference materials from British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese sources. This book covers the invasion of Spain and Napoleon's trickery in luring the Spanish crown into prison. It also features Wellington's first peninsular battle and of course the famous retreat to Corunna and the battle at that place.

This history, written many years after Napier's, draws its information from more first-hand accounts and corrects some of more glaring mistakes and biases of Napier. Although this audiobook is abridged, the only text removed is a number of the non-English sections of the Appendix, namely sections one, two, three, four, and seven. All English text from the appendices is present.

©2012 FNH (P)2012 FNH

If you like details...

Extreme detail and meticulous research are the keys here. Everything you wanted to know about the peninsular war. Only criticism is the narrator's appalling pronunciation of French names and Spanish and Portuguese names and places. But the content is spot on, well supported and documented. The author's summations and conclusions and assessments of the larger impacts of the campaigns and battles are well reasoned and compelling. This book is for Napoleonic, war history and Spanish history nerds, like me I guess. By the way, this massive volume covers only the first of six years of the war. There are four other massive volumes as Wellington takes the stage once again...

Great book, atrocious reading

Ge pronounces everything incorrectly. if you're not already familiar with this time period you will be very confused as to who and what he's describing

Academic history at its best

What did you love best about A History of the Peninsular War 1807-1809?

This book is thorough and carefully researched.

What did you like best about this story?

The narrative is carried forward in a straightforward and lucid manner.

Any additional comments?

I am puzzled by some of the other listeners' comments. To begin with you can't expect to listen to a book of history without providing yourself with some maps and doing some basic research on the topic. If that's too hard you should be reading Bernard Cornwell. As for the reader, yes, he has an accent, one that I have heard before, but not in a narrator. It's not BBC standard. However I understood all the words and his voice is pleasant to listen to. I found the pronunciation more amusing than annoying.

Listeners should be aware the book was written a hundred years ago and many of the place names are not on current maps, or are differently spelled and sometimes differently pronounced. Also, the author was British and has a British point of view, although I would say he is fair and honest. There is much detailed description of military unit names and numbers present at certain times. It could all have been left out. Curiously, it has the effect of reinforcing the author's credibility. He did his homework.

Wonderful if you can tolerate the reader

What made the experience of listening to A History of the Peninsular War 1807-1809 the most enjoyable?

Well researched and presented material

How could the performance have been better?

If you could find someone to read the book who doesn't butcher the English language. It is cav-al-ry, not cav-ary and pam-plo-na, not pam-ploo-na. The reader continually mis-pronounces words and it is very annoying.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No way. Couldn't tolerate but a hour or so at a time of the reader, it was very painful at times.

Any additional comments?

Super book, be aware of this reader related to future purchases. Where is Robertson Dean or Michael Kramer when you need them?

doesnt translate well into audiobook

Would you recommend A History of the Peninsular War 1807-1809 to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes

Which scene was your favorite?

Battle of Balin and Moore's retreat.

Any additional comments?

This is probably an excellant book but it doesnt translate well into an audiobook. With the obvious removal of maps the casual listener has very little idea where many of these Spanish towns are located in relation to eachother. And therefore cant fully appreciate the hows and whys of military operations in Spain and Portugal.
Still it is an exhaustive, thourough, enjoyable book.

Very interesting, but the narration distracts

I have enjoyed exploring this part of the Napoleonic Wars. Charles Oman has provided a very thorough treatment of this fascinating period. I do not care at all for how Herriot pronounces names and places. While some of it can be put to me being American, that doesn't explain it all.

Landmark treatise that punches you in the ear.

Would you be willing to try another one of Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot’s performances?

Though I will listen to the rest of this series, I would NOT chose Mr. Herriot's reads due to the fact that he seems incapable of pronouncing much of his own language correctly (Cavalry pronounced with an L so soft it comes out as cavary) and what he does to both French and Spanish names would be comic if it was meant to be parody.

Any additional comments?

If you are interested in the Napoleonic wars, this book is a must. The only real negative is that without a printed copy, you will have a harder time following some of the movements and locations.

Excellent Book, Terrible Narrator

Charles Oman's classic history of the Peninsular War is undermined by the atrocious narrator. Not only is he incapable of pronouncing non English words correctly, or even the same way twice, he struggles with English words of three syllables or greater. The book needs to be re-recorded to give it any hope of listenability. As it stands, it will frustrate any literate listener.

Ignorant Reader Botches Historical Classic

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No, because the reader's total inability to pronounce anything above third-grade vocabulary is extremely distracting. Also, it is a strange choice to have a book that takes place in Spain read by someone with absolutely no clue how to pronounce Spanish--it's so bad that you usually can't tell whom or where he is talking about. He can be funny, though: my favorite was when he rendered "suzerainty" (overlordship) as "super-zanity."

What other book might you compare A History of the Peninsular War 1807-1809 to and why?

"Marlborough, His Life and Times," read by a dyslexic 8-year-old.

Would you be willing to try another one of Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot’s performances?

Only if the alternative was to have my brains pulled out through my nose.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Now on film, because you couldn't stand to listen to the audiobook."

Any additional comments?

A good book ruined by a bad reader. I want my money back.

Well researched content

Unfortunately impacted by the narrator's atrocious pronouncing of French names.
Is anybody reviewing these priductions before the audio release?