Together with Ciudad Rodrigo Badajoz was one of the great fortress cities which commanded the two routes between Spain and Portugal, known as the 'Keys of Spain'. Rodrigo was the first to fall in January 1812, and the following month Wellington's men began to slip away southwards to lay siege to Badajoz. The city had been attacked twice before by the British, but a lack of proper siege materials had caused both attempts to be abandoned. This time, however, they hoped to be 'third time lucky'. Based on eye-witness accounts of the men of the French and British armies, In Hell Before Daylight tells the story of this bloody siege, the conditions in which the British soldiers fought and died, and the horrifying sack of the city as the victorious army ran unchecked.