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Gibraltar cover art

Gibraltar

By: Roy Adkins, Lesley Adkins
Narrated by: John Telfer
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Summary

For over three and a half years, from 1779 to 1783, the tiny territory of Gibraltar was besieged and blockaded, on land and at sea, by the overwhelming forces of Spain and France. It became the longest siege in British history, and the obsession with saving Gibraltar was blamed for the loss of the American colonies in the War of Independence.

Located between the Mediterranean and Atlantic, on the very edge of Europe, Gibraltar was a place of varied nationalities, languages, religions and social classes. During the siege, thousands of soldiers, civilians and their families withstood terrifying bombardments, starvation and diseases. Very ordinary people lived through extraordinary events, from shipwrecks and naval battles to an attempted invasion of England and a daring sortie out of Gibraltar into Spain. Deadly innovations included red-hot shot, shrapnel shells and a barrage from immense floating batteries.

This is military and social history at its best, a story of soldiers, sailors and civilians, with royalty and rank and file, workmen and engineers, priests, prisoners of war, spies and surgeons all caught up in a struggle for a fortress located on little more than two square miles of awe-inspiring rock.

Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History is rich in dramatic human detail - a tale of courage, endurance, intrigue, desperation, greed and humanity. The everyday experiences of all those involved are brought vividly to life with eyewitness accounts and expert research.

©2017 Roy & Lesley Adkins (P)2017 Little, Brown Book Group
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"A fascinating, well-crafted account of a siege that defined Britishness." (Andrew Lambert, BBC History Magazine)

What listeners say about Gibraltar

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

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Enjoyed the book whilst on holiday at the Rock hotel Gibraltar, four words remaining okay

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Excellent

Great and exciting factual account presented with good eye for historical moment and detail.

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2 people found this helpful

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Riveting read.

Excellently written with so much detail of British history that is now largely forgotten or ignored or by some now despised.

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Gibraltar

fantastic naration, cant wait to listen to it again in future alongside Trafalgar. the book is a great dive into accounts off people who lived through that time, and we get to see history unfold in our imaginations.

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Absolutely fascinating

Quite riveting - details and dates peppered with human stories and family details … always human. I confess to the shedding of tears with the details of the terrible loss of human life detailed. Mrs Green’s poem is apt still today …. It should form a part of all Remembrance Day ceremonies …. Such courage and sacrifice impossible to imagine by those of us fortunate never to have been a part of such a conflict. THANKYOU for this book.

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Historical

Enjoyed this book. Having visited Gibraltar and being possible to better envisage descriptions told helped greatly.

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    4 out of 5 stars

The Gib is ours..... for now.

Very much enjoyed but I thought a little long~winded at times, because of so many diary accounts from so many people, whether they be civilians diar'ests solider sailors tinker and householder and even the odd deserter (from both sides). But then I realised that those people is what it is all about. Going all the way back to the War of the Spanish Succession, through every conflict up to WWII Gib has been British for the lives that have been sacrificed there. It's a better book looking at it through their eyes.

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