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 for the first time on these two principal events and their direct relationship, 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. Much has been written about the first battle, almost always in a partisan way, from the view of the British or the Danes. The second battle - or siege - has rarely been described in detail and certainly not from the Danish point of view. During the British attack, Congreve rockets as well as conventional artillery were fired against the city, with devastating effect. Large areas were burned to the ground and many civilians were killed and wounded. Gareth Glover, who has established a reputation for pioneering work on the less-well-known aspects of the Napoleonic Wars, 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.