In Hell Before Daylight: The Siege and Storming of the Fortress of Badajoz, 1812

Together with Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz was one of the great fortress cities that commanded the two routes between Spain and Portugal, and together they were known as the Keys of Spain during the Peninsular War. Rodrigo was the first to fall in January 1812, and the following month Wellington's men began to slip away southwards to lay siege to Badajoz. The city had been attacked twice before by the British, but a lack of proper siege materials had caused both attempts to be abandoned. Based on eye-witness accounts of the men of the French and British armies, this is the story of this bloody siege, the conditions in which the British soldiers fought and died, and the horrifying sack of the city as the victorious army ran unchecked.