Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of the War and Peace

D. C. B. Lieven

Viking, 2010 - History - 617 pages

A major new history of the Russian conflict immortalized by Tolstoy in War and Peace

Russia's expulsion of Napoleon's Grande Armée in 1812 is considered one of the most dramatic events in European history. However, Tolstoyan myth and an imbalance of British and French interpretations have clouded most Westerners' understanding of Russia's role in the defeat of Napoleon.

Based on a fresh examination of Russian military archives, Russia Against Napoleon provides the first-ever history of the period told from the Russian perspective. In Dominic Lieven's account, Russia's victory in 1812 was just the beginning of what would be the longest military campaign in European history, marked by Russia's epic efforts to feed and supply half a million troops as they crossed an entire continent.

Moving from the 1807 treaty signed by Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I through the Russian army's improbable entry into Paris in 1814, Lieven provides suspenseful accounts of events, such as the burning of Moscow and the great battles of Leipzig and Borodino, as well as astute analyses of the great military strategists of the time. The result is a magisterial work sure to be eagerly anticipated by military and history buffs alike.

What people are saying

Review: Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace

User Review  - Karl - Goodreads

A dry romp through a bleak era. woof. The chip on Dominic's shoulder against popular thought concerning the russians various victories over Napoleon, so evident in opening chapters, graciously fades ...

Review: Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace

User Review - Goodreads

This book corrects a very serious historical flaw in the popular understanding of the Napoleonic era -- the general belief that Napoleon invaded Russia in a pique of megalomania and was defeated by ...

About the author

Dominic Lieven is professor of Russian history at the London School of Economics. His previous books include Empire: The Russian Empire and Its Rivals and Nicholas II: Twilight of the Empire. Three of his direct ancestors were generals in the Battle of Leipzig.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of the War and Peace
• Author: D. C. B. Lieven
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Viking, 2010
• ISBN: 0670021571, 9780670021574
• Length: 617 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Russia & the Former Soviet Union; History / Military / Other; History / Military / World War I; Literary Criticism / Russian & Former Soviet Union