The Danish capital of Copenhagen was the site of two major battles
during the Napoleonic Wars, but the significance of the fighting there,
and the key role the country played in the conflict in northern Europe,
has rarely been examined in detail. In this absorbing and original study
Gareth Glover focuses on these two principal events, using original
source material to describe them from the British and Danish
perspectives, and he shows how they fitted into the little-understood
politics of this region during this turbulent phase of European history.
The first Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 - the naval battle celebrated in
Britain as one of Nelson's great victories - and the second - the
British army's assault on the city in 1807 in which Wellington played a
prominent part - were episodes in the continental struggle to resist the
power of the French. Gareth Glover describes these events in vivid
detail, quoting extensively from the recollections of eyewitnesses on
both sides. His account is fascinating reading and an important
contribution to the history of the period.