Denis Pack was one of a phalanx of senior Anglo-Irish officers who served with great distinction in the British army in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, earning a reputation as one of the Duke of Wellington’s most able brigade commanders. Despite his remarkable and varied military career, he hasn’t received the individual attention he deserves, but this omission has now been remedied by Marcus de la Poer Beresford’s full biography. Pack, who was born in 1774, served extensively in Europe as well as in Africa and South America. He was one of the few brigade commanders to serve first with the Portuguese army, and then with Wellington, in the Peninsula, at Quatre Bras, Waterloo and afterwards in the occupation of France. His life was cut short by an early death in 1823, which may have been the result of the many wounds he received in his thirty years as a soldier. This perceptive and meticulously researched study draws on previously unpublished material from archives in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Ireland. It complements other works on notable officers of the period, as Pack served with Cornwallis, Baird, Beresford, Whitelocke, Chatham, Picton, Henry Clinton, and others as well as Wellington. In addition it offers an absorbing portrait of Pack himself and gives the reader a fascinating insight into the many campaigns he took part in and the military life of his day.

The British army between 1783 and 1815 – the army that fought in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars – has received severe criticism and sometimes exaggerated praise from contemporaries and historians alike, and a balanced and perceptive reassessment of it as an institution and a fighting force is overdue. That is why this carefully considered new study by Kevin Linch is of such value. He brings together fresh perspectives on the army in one of its most tumultuous – and famous – eras, exploring the global range of its deployment, the varieties of soldiering it had to undertake, its close ties to the political and social situation of the time, and its complex relationship with British society and culture. In the face of huge demands on its manpower and direct military threats to the British Isles and territories across the globe, the army had to adapt. As Kevin Linch demonstrates, some changes were significant while others were, in the end, minor or temporary. In the process he challenges the ‘Road to Waterloo’ narrative of the army’s steady progress from the nadir of the 1780s and early 1790s, to its strong performances throughout the Peninsular War and its triumph at the Battle of Waterloo. His reassessment shows an army that was just good enough to cope with the demanding campaigns it undertook.

The Canadian people have faced crises of leadership, but never more seriously than during the War of 1812. Despite the many studies of this turbulent time, there are still controversies over traditional issues, one being the quality of leadership on both sides.