I have been approached with a view to writing a short (80,000-word) military history of the Peninsular War for the academic market. I have a rough plan for how something worthwhile could be done with that wordcount, by giving a very broad overview and then following up with case-studies of particular episodes. However, I am conscious that I will need to get up to speed on the scholarship relating to the non-British aspects. I have enough French to extract the sense from a piece, and access to someone who could potentially do a small amount of translation from Spanish; Portuguese would be a problem. All that said, within the constraints that I would be tied to if I took this on, I'm looking primarily for English-language sources.
Other than the collected works of Charles Esdaile, which I am working my way through, what else should I be looking at re. the Spanish? Whilst there is a lot of material there, I think I need a counterpoint otherwise they might as well have just asked Charles to write the book! I have the bilingual Santo/Brito title on logistics from the Portuguese perspective, the pamphlet-length piece that Tribuna e Historia put out on the 1808 campaign, and a chapter by Mark Thompson on Portuguese engineers, but anything else there (I note Bob's forthcoming project, but sadly I don't think that that is likely to appear in time)? Various older articles on the French experience, but nothing very recent.
Any suggestions gratefully received.
Thanks Charles. To clarify on the battles, with the wordcount that I have to play with I'd be looking at three case-study battles to cover the field engagements of the whole war, not just the Spanish elements. My thinking was therefore Rio Seco, Bussaco, and Vitoria. Obviously that selection tracks the French all the way through, but catches the Spanish both early and late, likewise the Portuguese, and has the British both on the defensive and the offensive. Rio Seco is the only one that I've not visited, so yes, pictures would be much appreciated.