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Title: A fascinating look at an uncommon soldier
Review: George Scovell, a man of fairly humble origins, made a tremendous contribution to the success of the Duke of Wellington in defeating Napoleon's armies in Spain, but those humble origins worked against his receiving the fame and professional advancement he really deserved. Mark Urban's book, half biography and half military campaign history, does much to restore Scovell to his rightful place. Readers will come away with both an appreciation of Scovell's considerable talents as a military administrator and a code breaker and also a decent understanding of the flow of events during Wellington's great campaigns during the Peninsular War. While the battles are not neglected by Urban, much of the book of necessity is aimed at describing the events behind the scenes which are so often neglected by standard military histories.
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