At war against Napoleon's army with the famous duke This is an invaluable first hand account of a British officer who served under both Moore and Wellington against Napoleon's invading French forces in the Iberian peninsula. A Scot; he joined the army as an ensign in the 72nd Foot and but went to the peninsula as an aide-de-camp to his uncle; General Sir James Leith. He also spent a considerable period gathering intelligence and communicating with other commanders in the British; Portuguese and Spanish armies. As he travelled Leith Hay made sketches of the terrain through which he passed and these were incorporated into the two volume account of his Peninsular War experiences which have been gathered together in this special single volume Leonaur edition. In 1808; he joined the 29th Regiment of Foot and as a lieutenant in he saw much action at the sharpest end of war. An exceptional observer he combined this with the talent to communicate well in both images and words. In this respect his activities as a gatherer of military intelligence would have made him an asset. Fortunately for modern readers he brought those same talents to his literary endeavours and all manner of detail is more finely and intimately described here than might be expected in memoirs of this kind. Leith Hay's descriptions of the engagements in which he took part-particularly as a regimental officer-are particularly finely crafted. His depiction of the Battle of Talavera is particularly noteworthy as are his observations on the storming of San Sebastian. Leith Hay served with Charles Leslie in the 29th Foot and Leslie's book; 'With the 29th Regiment in the Peninsula;' is also published by Leonaur-the two volumes are ideal companions for historical researchers. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.
#1568282 in Books 2013-05-21 2013-05-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 249.68 x 5.33 x 7.30l; .58 #File Name: 178096909064 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A solid entry in the Air Vanguard seriesBy Steven PetersonThis is far from a perfect Osprey volume; but it is a good entry in the publisher's portfolio of books. The focus here is the P-40; perhaps most famous for being the planes used by "The Flying Tigers" in the Chinese Theater.The book begins with a lengthy discussion of the origins of the P-40 and how it was selected by the military for large-scale production. The book does a nice job of laying out how an originally good performing aircraft had to compromise performance for firepower and safety. A nice illustration of tradeoffs. The description of the origins and evolution of the P-40 at times is a bit tedious. For instance; various versions of the P-40 and their specifications appears on pages 24 through 41; taking up a great deal of space.The book does a useful job of describing the P-40's war career--from the ignominious beginning at Pear Harbor and the Philippines; where--through lack of care--the planes were left on the ground to be largely destroyed by attacking Japanese warplanes. However; after that the aircraft played a role in the European and Asian theaters; and did capable work; though compromised as noted above.A followup volume is designed to trace the further evolution of the P-40.All in all; a good representative of the Osprey line of books.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. They phoned it in...By Vince M.I collect P-40 books so; of course; I bought this and will keep it.Sadly; it's just mediocre.The photos; at least a lot of them; are small so are not very useful. Besides; I don't believe any of the photos are ones I don't have in at least a couple other books on the subject.There is a section of comparison charts that just seem to be filler.For example; Propeller: three-bladed. Well; all of them had that.Landing gear: retractable. Yep; all P-40s had that... so why put it in the charts?This is surprising because I have some other books by Carl Molesworth that are really good and among my favorites.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Nice review of the early P-40 TomahawkBy Mike E.The P-40 Tomahawk was America's first line fighter in 1940. Unfortunately; because America was not at war; and was not yet geared up for the Second World War; the more famous P-47 "Thunderbolt" and P-51 "Mustang" were still on the drawing boards. By December 1941 the P-40 was outclassed by both the German Me-109 and the Japanese A6M "Zero"; yet the skill of the American pilots and the ruggedness of the P-40 helped it to survive. The early P-40s fought with the Nationalist Chinese against the Japanese invaders with Gen. Claire Chennault's famous "Flying Tigers"; the first Tomahawks to draw enemy blood. The first blood drawn by US Army Air Force P-40's was December 7 1941 occurred when two resourceful pilots managed to get off the ground and shoot down some of the Japanese aircraft that had attacked the US Navy at Pearl Harbor; and the US Army fields at Hickham and Wheeler Fields. The P-40 served with distinction in the Mediterranean as well; and served throughout the war in both the European Theater and the Pacific Theater as a ground support fighter; and when pressed; as a pursuit fighter against more capable enemy planes. It went through constant modifications; and the late P40's were nearly as fast and sleek as the latest P-51's.This book is an excellent historical and technical respresentation of the performance of the early P-40's and has a welcome spot in my aviation library.
