Sir John Fortescue holds a pre-eminent place amongst British military historians, his enduring fame and legacy resting mainly on his life's work "The History of the British Army", issued in 20 volumes, which took him some 30 years to complete. In scope and breadth it is such that no modern scholar has attempted to cover such a large and diverse subject in its entirety; but Sir John did so and with aplomb, leading to a readable and comprehensive study. This fifth volume covers the period from 1803-1807, following the short-lived Peace of Amiens Britain and her army faced their most inveterate and dangerous foe, Napoleon. However Britain stood alone against a resurgent France, her former allies had made a grudging peace with France and were unwilling to commit to Britain who they saw as self-interested. Napoleon encamped his huge army around the Channel ports and set about training for the invasion of Britain, the British Army was enlarged through many differing schemes awaiting the defence of the island. In the wider world the superiority of the British Navy enabled more colonial raiding whilst French positions in India were conquered

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