Resumo de 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March On Moscow

A sweeping account of one of the most dramatic military campaigns in history. Opening in 1811, when Napoleon was at the peak of his
powers, it details the complicated series of events which led up to Napoleon's
1812 march into Russia.
Made famous particularly by Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' it is a campaign which has gone down in history as one of the great military disasters. It is largely
the story of a huge power struggle between two arrogant, yet extremely able men
- Napoleon and Alexander, the Russian Tsar. The speed with which they went from
having a close friendship, formed during their talks at Tilsit in 1807, to
becoming sworn enemies a few years later, is a fascinating story told with real
panache by Zamoyski, and one which clearly exposes the best and the worst sides
of Napoleon's character. In one instance he is the all-powerful manipulator,
twisting Alexander round his little finger and enthralling the Russian
aristoracy. In the next, he is an angry, uncontrollable and somewhat pathetic
figure, throwing furniture out of windows in reaction to Alexander's letters
detailing his refusal to cooporate with Napoleon's increasingly difficult
demands.
The campaign itself is described from the top level down to the experiences of
the ordinary soldier. The seminal battle of Borodino in
particular is described with real drama, and one really gets a sense of how
Napoleon's tactical brilliance was beginning to wane, costing the lives of many
soldiers who might have otherwise been saved. But the most harrowing section of
the book is the description of the long retreat from Moscow.
It began as a strategic withdrawal, and ended up costing the lives of almost
the entire French army as they battled through the arctic temperatures of the
Russian winter. How any of them made it back at all is remarkable, and Zamoyski
tells many incredible individual stories.
I'd recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in Napolenonic
history, for it's not only a detailed military history, but a genuinely
gripping and dramatic read, filled with fascinating characters. Something that
struck me in particular was how much of the events Zamoyski writes about had a
direct link to the conflicts of the 20th century - for it was as a result of
the 1812 campaign that Napoleon's grip on Europe was weakened, and hence the
modern Germany began to take shape. It is easy to see how the European
superpowers soon became locked into uneasy alliances that were to have deadly
consequences. This is the story of a true military catastrophe.

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