Coss (military history, US Army Command and General Staff College, Virginia) writes this history to correct the long standing assumption that Wellington's Peninsular Campaign redcoats were drawn from society's dregs. Using the British Soldier Compendium database and many first-person accounts, he proves they were otherwise. They were laborers and tradesmen suffering unemployment following Britain's industrial revolution. Their cohesiveness, values and code of sharing shed light on soldier units up to the very present. Backgrounds and daily lives of the soldiers are illuminated by every aspect of this study. Additionally, charts and tables that examine nutrition, ethnicity, height, trades and other characteristics support discoveries about who these men were and how they fought. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)