Rating: 
Summary: Really great history
Review: For all of us who cut our Peninsula-teeth on Bernard Cornwell's Shapre series, it's occasionally nice to read something else that dove-tails in so nicely with our Military War fetish. This book is an interesting (if slightly dry) novel that explains a lot about ciphers and code breaking during this period. I found it fascinating. I?ve read it cover to cover twice, and I?m sure I?ll do so again in the next year or so.
At home on my "to read" shelf I have Urban's new book (not yet available in the US) Rifles: Six Years with Wellington's Elite. Can't wait to start it. I snapped it up in London when I was there a couple of months ago.
He?s on my permanent buy in hardcover list (and it?s a very small list).
Rating:
Summary: 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.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable/enterteaning read and a new perspective ...
Review: I hesitated before buying it, I was afraid it would be a rerun of ENIGMA set in the Peninsula...
Well, been a real freak for everything related with XIXth century warfare, I finally fell for it and it come as a good surprise!, well written whole tapestry of the Peninsula and a fascinating aproach at intelligence work,(also, and non the less important, for once a british writer gives due credit to the guerrilleros wich denied the countryside to the french and provided much of the intelligence of the movements of troops, and tied a great number of french soldiers in the process...), not that I aprove a lot this kind of warfare but Spain will be Spain... (all excesses included for the best and worst!).
There is a new insight of Wellington's personality, campaigns, success, failures (non exploited favorable situations, hesitations, the failed storming of Burgos etc) wich instead of casting a shadow on him strangely make him more human and after all a hell of a real great general (his attitude and prejudices about lectured soldiers or born gentlemen must be read in context of the times...).
Scowell is an unsung and quite astounding character (and a courageous officer to his credit) who contributed A LOT to Wellington's campaigns, but I think in the end the Army was fair with him. I won't spoil the read giving too much away.
A must read for all napoleonic fans, diehard enthusiats of the Peninsular War, and even Bernard Cornwell's readers (include me in!) wich will see how deep is the historical research of the popular Sharpe novels.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not just about the codebreaking
Review: Mark Urban gives us The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes, but we actually get much more than that. As the sub-title indicates, this is the story of George Scovell, a British army officer who worked for Wellington during the Spanish campaigns against France in 1812 and thereabouts. But we read quite a bit more about the campaign itself, and there are a number of complete chapters that make no mention of code breaking at all. This is a military history through and through.I'm not complaining. Far from it. Napoleon's codes were certainly difficult for the age, but they were just substitution ciphers. Each letter, number, or punctuation was assigned to one or more possible numbers, and certain common words and names were given their own number or numbers. The code breaker looks at as many messages as he can get his hands on and starts working out the possibilities. By modern standards, this is trivial. Of course modern codes are not only unbreakable by hand, but unmakeable too. But we have computers; Scovell had a desk, stacks of intercepted messages, and a candle to provide some light late at night. He also had a quick mind, a devotion to duty, ambition, and an excellent command of French. But Scovell was also a staff officer, and he had other duties, including training scouts and guides, which meant he was in the middle of military planning at Wellington's headquarters, and he also spent a lot of time in the field, though not usually the battlefield. Using Scovell as the central figure allows Urban to relate to us the unfolding of the Iberian war from the perspective of someone in the middle of it. All the major battles are covered, and we also read about relations between Napoleon and his generals, and between him and the Spanish king (who coincidently was his brother). It's a good story, and we feel the satisfaction when the mind mannered Scovell, a lowly captain at the start, makes his way to lieutenant colonel by the end of the war, based entirely on his great efforts and success. It's also an engaging military history, and is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Account of a Little Known Subject
Review: Mark Urban has added another great book to the many titles competing to be placed in a Napoleonic library. This book, 'The Man Who Broken Napoleon's Codes' covers a little known and written of subject, the story of George Scovell. This man had as much to do with the British victories in Spain as did Wellington although you would not know it if you read any previous accounts of the Peninsular War. George Scovell helped break the French Imperial codes and provided much useful intelligence to Wellington in his campaigns against the French armies. But since Scovell was of low birth he struggled for advancement. He showed his bravery on a number of battlefields but was almost always forgotten when it came to promotion, being passed over by younger men of more distinguished birth. I must admit that I was a bit dubious when I started reading this book as I usually find accounts on code breaking and intelligence quite dull and boring however this book reads like a novel. Full of information with a narrative that races along, it was a great story and full of action. The book covers all the major campaigns and battles in the Peninsular and was a joy to read. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who loves reading about the Napoleonic period.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Account of a Little Known Subject
Review: Mark Urban has added another great book to the many titles competing to be placed in a Napoleonic library. This book, `The Man Who Broken Napoleon's Codes' covers a little known and written of subject, the story of George Scovell. This man had as much to do with the British victories in Spain as did Wellington although you would not know it if you read any previous accounts of the Peninsular War. George Scovell helped break the French Imperial codes and provided much useful intelligence to Wellington in his campaigns against the French armies. But since Scovell was of low birth he struggled for advancement. He showed his bravery on a number of battlefields but was almost always forgotten when it came to promotion, being passed over by younger men of more distinguished birth. I must admit that I was a bit dubious when I started reading this book as I usually find accounts on code breaking and intelligence quite dull and boring however this book reads like a novel. Full of information with a narrative that races along, it was a great story and full of action. The book covers all the major campaigns and battles in the Peninsular and was a joy to read. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who loves reading about the Napoleonic period.
Rating: 
Summary: Codebreaker in Spain
Review: Mark Urban has written a good and well-researched account of an officer who played a key role in the war against Napoleon's armies in Spain--a war not much written about in recent years, if one excepts Bernard Cornwell's novels about that doughty British soldier, Sharpe. Sorry to say, the book contains a series of minor irritations that distract the reader, mainly footnotes to explain French or Latin words or phrases in the text. One senses these were added for the benefit of the American reader, who Urban (or his editor) assumes does not know the meaning of hauteur or en clair or divide et impera or primus inter pares. HarperCollins might be interested to know that this reader found the footnotes irritating, to the extent that halfway through I began to skim the text. A reader is not attracted by a writer who tries to wear a cloak of superiority--especially when the writer is himself guilty of misspellings of foreign words. For example, the word for city in Spanish is "ciudad", but is misspelled on the map on page 2. As we say in Colorado, verbum sapientibus satis est.
Rating:
Summary: The importance of intelligence in the Peninsular War
Review: Mark Urban's entry point into a crowded field of histories of the Napoleonic Wars is the story of George Scovell, the Duke of Wellington's cryptographer. In "The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes", Urban places Scovell's personal story in the context primarily of the Peninsular War. Urban manages to reduce the fairly esoteric work of code-breaking to understandable prose, in the process providing excellent insights into the workings of Wellington's staff and into the Duke's command style. The availability of intelligence is shown to be crucial to the survival and success of the outnumbered Anglo-Portuguese Army in the Iberian Peninsula. Wellington's success in attacking the separate pieces of the French Army in Spain while avoiding larger concentrations was based on his understanding of their movements and intentions, derived from the reconnaissance of British officers and Spanish guerrillas, and especially from the deciphering of captured French dispatches. Urban is evenhanded in his treatment of the principal characters. Scovill himself emerges as a sympathetic character, a hardworking staff officer of lower class social origins trying to make his way in an Army hierarchy informally based on social position. This book is highly recommended for the serious student of the Napoleonic Wars looking for insight into intelligence matters. Remarkably, this book will also be accessible to the casual reader, thanks to Urban's clear and engaging writing style.
Rating:
Summary: Really good read
Review: One Amazon reviewer referred to this book as a novel. It's not, but I understand that lapse. The book is very well-written and tells a story that, were it not true, might be thought unbelievable.
Rating:
Summary: Under the Rose, Part Deux
Review: There is a dearth of information, especially in book form, of the intelligence and counterintelligence side of the Napoleonic Wars. Author Mark Urban has manfully stepped up and partially filled the need on that subject with this excellent volume about an obscure British officer on Wellington's staff in Spain who, in addition to organizing the 'Guides' and his other duties, performed a coup in intelligence work by breaking the French codes in Spain, giving his commander an immense advantage over his opponent. Armies win or lose, and empires are lost and won with intelligence operations. George Scovell, the man referred to in the title of the book, never really received his just due for the great work he did, especially from his commander. Nevertheless, Scovell served loyally and ably, and did more than his assigned duty. He was probably indispensable to Wellington, and only now, with the publication of this book, are we, the students of the period, learning of this officer and his true worth because of the interest and diligence of the author. The book is about intelligence operations, which the author is a virtuoso in explaining in detail. However, the book is more than that. It is also the story of the man, Scovell, what he tried and wanted to do, and what he accomplished. A self-made man, he really was never in Wellington's inner circle, and I tend to doubt that Wellington really understood Scovell's value. The author is at his best weaving his tale of hard work, heartbreak, and ultimate triumph. The book is a page-turner and is very well-written, not always the hallmark of the good historian. We should all look forward to his next effort with great anticipation. When I first saw the flyer for the book I was very happy as one of my favorite paintings, Moore's rearguard during the Corunna campaign, was on the cover. When I received my copy, I was greatly disappointed, as it only was a part of the cover, the rest being covered by writing of some sort. On closer inspection, however, the 'scribbling' was the code, being worked on by Scovell to break it. The cover describes the book perfectly-there is fighting and the personal side of combat during the Napoleonic era, as well as the intellectual side of warfare. It is a thinking man's game. Simply ingenious. Highly recommended for anyone and everyone interested in the period. If you don't read this book, you are missing a real treat. It has an honored place on my bookshelf.
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