To Conquer and to Keep Volume 1-2 (PDF Edition)

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Napoleon declared, “If I had had two Marshals like Suchet, I should not only have conquered Spain, but have kept it.” Louis-Gabriel Suchet was the only French commander to win his marshal’s baton in the Peninsular War, and one of the few whose reputation emerged enhanced from the conflict.

This two-volume study by Yuhan Kim provides the first in-depth English-language account of Suchet’s campaigns in eastern Spain, blending French, Spanish, British, and modern sources.

Volume 1 traces Suchet’s recovery from early defeat to his decisive victories over General Blake, culminating in the great siege of Tarragona and his elevation to Marshal.
Volume 2 examines the climactic Battle of Sagunto and the conquest of Valencia, followed by Suchet’s long struggle to hold his hard-won territories against resurgent Spanish armies and British intervention.
Richly supported with maps and orders of battle, this work reassesses Suchet’s generalship—his triumphs in siege and field warfare, his counter-guerrilla operations, and the limits of his administration—offering a balanced portrait of one of Napoleon’s most capable, yet often overlooked, marshals.