In 1806 a British expeditionary force captured Buenos Aires and Britain was sucked into a costly campaign on the far side of the world. The Spaniards were humbled on the battlefield, Montevideo was taken by storm, but the campaign ended in disaster for the British when 6000 redcoats and riflemen surrendered following a bloody battle fought in the streets of the Argentine capital. So ended one of the most humiliating - and neglected - episodes of the entire Napoleonic Wars for the British army. In The British Invasion of the River Plate Ben Hughes tells the story of this forgotten war in graphic detail. His account is based on research carried out across two continents, and it draws on contemporary newspaper reports, official documents and the memoirs, letters and journals of the men who were there.