The Recollections of Rifleman Harris

Benjamin Randell Harris

Aug 2022 · Weidenfeld & Nicolson · Narrated by Roger Davis

About this audiobook

'Describing narrow squeaks and terrible deprivations, Harris's unflowery account of fortitude and resilience in Spain still bristles with a freshness and an invigorating spikiness' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

'A most vivid record of the war in Spain and Portugal against Napoleon' MAIL ON SUNDAY

Benjamin Harris was a young shepherd from Dorset who joined the army in 1802 and later joined the dashing 95th Rifles. His battalion was ordered to Portugal, where he marched under the burning sun, weighed down by his kit and great-coat, plus all the tools and leather he had to carry as the battalion's cobbler - 'the lapstone I took the liberty of flinging to the Devil'.

Rifleman Harris was a natural story-teller with a remarkable tale to unfold, and his Recollections have become one of the most popular military books of all time.

About the author

Harris was a was born in Dorset, and was drafted into the army at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Almost certainly illiterate, he told his story to an officer in the Light Infantry, who came across Harris long after the war was over, when Harris, discharged through ill health, was working as a cobbler in Soho.

Christopher Hibbert, who edited and introduces the book, served as an officer during the war and was awarded the MC. He is the author of several acclaimed books of military history and won the Heinemann Award for Literature.