Jonathan Brown talks about the battle that took place at Corunna in Spain in 1809 when the British Army was driven to the sea by the enemy and was forced to await evacuation by the Royal Navy whilst fighting a desperate rear guard action to hold the enemy at bay, over 100 years before the similar events at Dunkirk in May-June 1940.

Cover artwork: "Comfort of a Bed of Roses", by James Gillray, courtesy of Look and Learn History Picture Archive.