Narratives of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars : Military and Civilian Experience in Britain and Ireland

The volume explores how the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars were experienced, perceived and narrated by contemporaries in Britain and Ireland, drawing on an extensive range of personal testimonies by soldiers, sailors and civilians to shed new light on the social and cultural history of the period and the history of warfare more broadly. "This volume explores how the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars (1793-1815) were experienced, perceived and narrated by contemporaries in Britain and Ireland. These conflicts have been described as the first modern or 'total' war with far-reaching consequences for military and civilian society and the development of modern identities. Yet in contrast to the innovative body of scholarship on the First and Second World Wars there has been little sustained analysis of the personal experiences of men and women involved directly or indirectly in these conflicts. Narratives of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars addresses this historiographical gap using letters, diaries and personal testimonies by soldiers, sailors and civilians to shed new light on the social and cultural history of the period and the history of warfare more broadly."-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-vi Introduction....Pages 1-11 Narrating War....Pages 12-32 Becoming Soldiers and Sailors....Pages 33-68 Combat and Campaign....Pages 69-91 Travellers in Uniform....Pages 92-113 Prisoners of War....Pages 114-134 Citizen-Soldiers....Pages 135-159 Bringing the War Back Home....Pages 160-186 Conclusion: A Waterloo Panorama....Pages 187-200 Back Matter....Pages 201-263