Hardcover Edition

9.33 x 6.23 inches,  657 pages,  16 battlefield terrain diagrams,  comprehensive Orders of Battle for 1810-1811 and 1812,  more.

An impressive and serious study of one of the most fascintating military campaigns in history. September 7, 1812, by itself has been termed one of the most cataclysmic days in the history of war: 74,000 casualties from both sides at the Battle of Borodino. Historians, to be sure, have covered the ground, have followed the ill-fated path of the Grande Armée's central army group, but questins still—and perhaps always—will remain. Interpretations vary.

David Chandler, long recognized as an authority on Napoleonic history, in his foreword to this book, re-states some of the questions: Was this great struggle between nations and alliances inevitable? Could the preparations for the war have been done better or differently? Were the war plans realistic? Were the problems of the exhaustion of resources taken into account properly? Was the role of the peasant-partisans anticipated? Are there not still phychological lesons to be learned today about men under severe physical stress?....And, Chandler concludes, "Nafziger's excellent treatment will suggest answers to many of the posed questions...." Though much as been written, much more remains to be said.

The book begins with a most lucid account of the power structure of Europe 1809-1812 which leads which leads into the causes of the 1812 campaign, and then proceeds to the organizaiton of the armies of France and her allies. The organization of the Russian army is likewise detailed. And, of course the progress of the actual invasion comes next. But perhaps one of the leading attributes of George Nafziger's book can be found in the appendices. Here the author has put together invaluable and hard-to-find documents—treaties and decrees, orders of battle from 1810-1812, and concludes with miscellaneous documentation tha tshould be of inestimable value to the historian, student and scholar.

"I am impressed—there can be no other word. It is a solid read, covering the ground in minute detail. I don't think I have ever seen so much detail in a similar work on this subject."
 

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