46.It was also, and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period, a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them.

47.It listed many documents in code that had been captured from the French Army of Spain, and whose secrets had been revealed by the work of one George Scovell, an officer in British headquarters. 

Oman rated Scovell’s significance highly, but at the same time, the general nature of his Historymeant that (48) he could not analyze carefully what this obscure officer may or may not have contributed to that great struggle between nations or indeed tell us anything much about the man himself.

49.There may have been many spies and intelligence officers during the Napoleonic Wars, but it is usually extremely difficult to find the material they actually provided or worked on.

50.Just as the code-breaking has its wider relevance in the struggle for Spain, so his attempts to make his way up the promotion ladder speak volumes about British society.