Book excerpt: By means of the personal diaries and letters of three officers in the 18th Hussars, the reader traces the progress of this famous cavalry Regiment through the gruelling years of campaigning in Portugal, Spain and South West France. The scene then shifts to Northern France and Belgium culminating in the decisive victory at Waterloo. The ferocity of the campaigning in the Peninsula is vividly described by these diarists. Their escapades between and during campaigning make fascinating reading and throw interesting light on military and social conditions at the time.