Corunna: A Retreat
In January 1809, as French troops under Napoleon sweep across Spain, an undefeated British army retreats to the coast. Its commander, Lieutenant General Sir John Moore, has been instructed that, being vital to Britain in its struggle against Napoleon, the army must be preserved at all costs. But Moore has also been ordered to aid his Spanish allies in their efforts to overthrow a tyrannical invader. The impossibility of achieving both aims ensures disaster on an epic scale. Corunna: A Retreat is the story of what happened on the retreat to Corunna, during which many British troops behaved atrociously in the towns and villages of Leon and Galicia. By the time they reached the coast, Moore himself and a quarter of his men were dead.