1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow

1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow
Adam Zamoyski
Harper Perennial 655 pages. $24.95

If this book had been published before 1941, would Adolf Hitler have paid any attention to the folly of invading Russia?

Adam Zamoyski’s account of the campaign is masterly, drawing together eye-witness accounts, records and a vast bibliography to produce a hard-to-put-down narrative history.

He goes through the reasons why Napoleon ultimately gambled his empire, explaining the flawed strategic thinking which led him across the Russian plains to faraway Moscow, destroying an entire army in the process.

But 1812 isn’t just about Napoleon – it’s also about Tsar Alexander I, the unstable, vain and weak ruler of Russia.

At first seduced by Napoleon’s presence and salesmanship, the Tsar then stumbled into resistance to the French dictator which tempted Napoleon into attacking across the Niemen River.

The Russian experience was as equally as terrible, losing thousands in battle and to disease. The French pillaged and lived off the land, destroying the lives of the serfs and engendering a patriotic response, very similar to that which the Germans evoked in the Russians during World War II.

This book is a must-read for any military history buff.

– David Sibley

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