The Battle of the Berezina

Author: Alexander Mikaberidze
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1848849443
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 323

Book Description
The full story of Napoleon’s legendary escape from Russia under seemingly impossible odds is recounted in this thrillingly vivid military history. In the winter of 1812, Napoleon's army retreated from Moscow under appalling conditions, hunted by three separate Russian armies. By late November, Napoleon had reached the banks of the River Berezina—the last natural obstacle between his army and the safety of the Polish frontier. But instead of finding the river frozen solid enough to march his men across, an unseasonable thaw had turned the Berezina into an icy torrent. Having already ordered the burning of his bridging equipment, Napoleon's predicament was serious enough: but with the army of Admiral Chichagov holding the opposite bank, and those of Kutusov and Wittgenstein closing fast, it was critical. In a gripping narrative that draws on contemporary sources—including letters, diaries and memoirs—Alexander Mikaberidze describes how Napoleon rose from the pit of despair to execute one of the greatest escapes in military history.

The Battle of Borodino

Author: Alexander Mikaberidze
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1848849702
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 567

Book Description
On 7 September 1812 at Borodino, 75 miles west of Moscow, the armies of the Russian and French empires clashed in one of the climactic battles of the Napoleonic Wars. This horrific - and controversial - contest has fascinated historians ever since. The survival of the Russian army after Borodino was a key factor in Napoleon's eventual defeat and the utter destruction of the French army of 1812. In this thought-provoking new study, Napoleonic historian Alexander Mikaberidze reconsiders the 1812 campaign and retells the terrible story of the Borodino battle as it was seen from the Russian point of view. His original and painstakingly researched investigation of this critical episode in Napoleon's invasion of Russia provides the reader with a fresh perspective on the battle and a broader understanding of the underlying reasons for the eventual Russian triumph. This book as just receive second prize by the Literary Committee of the International Napoleonic Society. A total of twelve distinguished works were carefully evaluated and Dr. Mikaberidze’s volume has met the rigorous criteria established by the Committee. The quality of the publication, especially in the area of research, originality, style and analysis, represents a significant contribution to Napoleonic Studies.

Russia Against Napoleon

Author: Dominic Lieven
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141947446
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 952

Book Description
'A compulsive page-turner ... a triumph of brilliant storytelling ... an instant classic that is an awesome, remarkable and exuberant achievement' Simon Sebag Montefiore Winner of the Wolfson History Prize and shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize In the summer of 1812 Napoleon, the master of Europe, marched into Russia with the largest army ever assembled, confident that he would sweep everything before him. Yet less than two years later his empire lay in ruins, and Russia had triumphed. This is the first history to explore in depth Russia's crucial role in the Napoleonic Wars, re-creating the epic battle between two empires as never before. Dominic Lieven writes with great panache and insight to describe from the Russians' viewpoint how they went from retreat, defeat and the burning of Moscow to becoming the new liberators of Europe; the consequences of which could not have been more important. Ultimately this book shows, memorably and brilliantly, Russia embarking on its strange, central role in Europe's existence, as both threat and protector - a role that continues, in all its complexity, into our own lifetimes.

Borodino 1812

Author: Philip Haythornthwaite
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780968817
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Book Description
A highly illustrated account of the battle of Borodino, the most crucial action in Napoleon's 1812 campaign in Russia. The battle of Borodino was one of the greatest encounters in European history, and one of the largest and most sanguinary in the Napoleonic Wars. Following the breakdown of relations between Russia and France, Napoleon assembled a vast Grande Armée drawn from the many states within the French sphere of influence. They crossed the river Neimen and entered Russian territory in June 1812 with the aim of inflicting a sharp defeat on the Tsar's forces and bringing the Russians back into line. In a bloody battle of head-on attacks and desperate counter-attacks in the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812, both sides lost about a third of their men, with the Russians forced to withdraw and abandon Moscow to the French. However, the Grande Armée was harassed by Russian troops all the way back and was destroyed by the retreat. The greatest army Napoleon had ever commanded was reduced to a shadow of frozen, starving fugitives. This title covers the events of Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign of 1812 in its entirety, with the set-piece battle of Borodino proving the focal point of the book.

1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow

Author: Adam Zamoyski
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007381069
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 677

Book Description
Adam Zamoyski’s bestselling account of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and his catastrophic retreat from Moscow, events that had a profound effect on European history.

Berezina

Author: Sylvain Tesson
Publisher: Europa Editions UK
ISBN: 1787701999
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 135

Book Description
October 1812, Napoleon enters Moscow. The Russians have set fire to the city, soon it will be reduced to a pile of ash. The Emperor equivocates, decides to turn back. This is the beginning of the retreat from Russia, a page of history that has become legendary for its degree of suffering and horror, but also for the heroic acts that took place. Two hundred years later, Sylvain Tesson, accompanied by four friends (two Russians and two French), decides to follow the route of the retreat. Perched on two Soviet Ural sidecar motorcycles, they will rejoin Paris from Moscow, guided only by the spectres of the two hundred thousand soldiers who died through cold, starvation, and in battle. Twenty five hundred miles travelled in a wild escapade to salute the ghosts of history, across the white plains of Russia.

Russian Eyewitness Accounts of the Campaign of 1814

Author: Alexander Mikaberidze
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473828627
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
Russia played a decisive role in the Napoleonic wars and the success in the struggle against France allowed Russian leaders to profoundly influence the course of European history. Over the last 200 years, the Napoleonic era has been discussed and analysed in numerous studies, but many fail to fully portray the Russian side of events due to the relative scarcity of Russian sources in English. Only a handful of Russian memoirs have been translated, while dozens remain unknown outside Russia. This book seeks to fill this gap by providing, in English, previously unavailable memoirs of Russian participants. Defeat at Leipzig in 1813 had driven Napoleon back across the borders of France, and in January 1814 the Russians, Austrians, Prussians and their other German allies stood poised to cross the Rhine. But the French Emperor was far from beaten, and the ensuing campaign saw desperate fighting, with the outcome very much in the balance. This book is the first to bring together dozens of letter, diaries and memoirs of Russian participants of the 1814 Campaign. Reading these documents we see both what Russian officers and soldiers experienced during the final months of the three-year-long campaign as well as their joy at defeating Russia’s most dangerous enemy. We follow them not only through the heat of battle but also on delightful tours of Paris which they describe as the pleasure and entertainment capital of the world.

Brave Men and Brave Deeds

Author: M. B. Synge
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781409933465
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Book Description
Margaret Bertha Synge (1861-1939) was a British author of books for children at the end of the nineteenthand beginning of the twentieth-century. Her works include: Cook's Voyages (1892), The Story of Scotland (1896), A Child of the Mews (1897), A Book of Scottish Poetry (edited) (1897), Brave Men and Brave Deeds (1898), A Helping Hand (1898), Life of Gladstone (1899), The Queen's Namesake (1899), Life of General Charles Gordon (1900), The Story of the World for the Children of the British Empire (5 vols., 1903), The Struggle for Sea Power (1903), The Awakening of Europe (1903), The World's Childhood: Stories of the Fairies Simply Told (2 vols., 1905), A Short History of Social Life in England (1906), Molly (1907), Martha Wren: A Story of Faithful Service (1908), The Great Victorian Age for Children (1908), Great Englishwomen (1911), A Book of Discovery (1912), Simple Garments for Children (1913), Simple Garments for Infants (1914), The Reign of Queen Victoria (1916) and The Story of the World at War (1926).

History of the Consulate and the Empire of France Under Napoleon...

Author: Adolphe Thiers
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 528

Book Description

The Burning of Moscow

Author: Alexander Mikaberidze
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 147383449X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 407

Book Description
As soon as Napoleon and his Grand Army entered Moscow, on 14 September 1812, the capital erupted in flames that eventually engulfed and destroyed two thirds of the city. The fiery devastation had a profound effect on the Grand Army, but for thirty-five days Napoleon stayed, making increasingly desperate efforts to achieve peace with Russia. Then, in October, almost surrounded by the Russians and with winter fast approaching, he abandoned the capital and embarked on the long, bitter retreat that destroyed his army. The month-long stay in Moscow was a pivotal moment in the war of 1812 the moment when the initiative swung towards the Tsar's armies and spelled doom for the invading Grand Army yet it has rarely been studied in the same depth as the other key events of the campaign.Alexander Mikaberidze, in this third volume of his in-depth reassessment of the war between the French and Russian empires, emphasizes the importance of the Moscow fire and shows how Russian intransigence sealed the fate of the French army. He uses a vast array of French, German, Polish and Russian memoirs, letters and diaries as well as archival material in order to tell the dramatic story of the Moscow fire. Not only does he provide a comprehensive account of events, looking at them from both the French and Russian points of view, but he explores the Russians' motives for leaving, then burning their capital. Using extensive eyewitness accounts, he paints a vivid picture of the harsh reality of life in the remains of the occupied city and describes military operations around Moscow at this turning point in the campaign.