Hello, I teach English to the Spanish Military. One of my students (a General and a great Peninsular Wars enthusiast )has just discovered 'Sharpe' and is most 'concerned' that you are so hard on the Spanish. I had to admit I've never read the series but wondered if you could, perhaps, give your reasons? best regards, Barbara
I have a feeling that the Spanish and British have never understood each other properly, and I will plead guilty that the earliest Sharpe books are very much written from a British viewpoint. I think matters got off to a dreadful start by the behaviour of General Cuesta before, during and after the battle of Talavera, and Spanish reluctance (entirely understandable) to make Wellington Commander-in-Chief didn't help. Yet by the end of the war (and I hope the Sharpe books reflect this) the Spanish were considered staunch and reliable and very effective allies. That, of course, ignores the role of the guerilleros, which is complicated, but no one (least of all Sharpe) underestimates the damage done to the French by the guerilla war. That said I'm also hard on the British, though perhaps you're less likely to see that, but no general, on either side, was as bad as the awful Erskine!