1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow

Adam Zamoyski

Nov 2012 · Sold by HarperCollins UK

About this ebook

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.

In 1812 the most powerful man in the world assembled the largest army in history and marched on Moscow with the intention of consolidating his dominion. But within months, Napoleon’s invasion of Russia – history’s first example of total war – had turned into an epic military disaster. Over 400,000 French and Allied troops perished and Napoleon was forced to retreat.

Adam Zamoyski’s masterful work draws on the harrowing first-hand accounts of soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict. The result takes the reader beyond the invasion of Russia to present both a poignant tale of the individual foot soldier and a sweeping history of a turbulent time.

Ratings and reviews

This book was moving in a way so many historical books are not. It had all the dry historical numbers, troop movements, and comaritive facts you want, but it is also awash with personal accounts of the perils involved in this epic conflict. It's certainly more from the napoleonic side, but there is plenty of account of the Russian struggles.

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About the author

Adam Zamoyski was born in New York but has spent most of his life in England. A freelance historian with a singular command of languages, his recent books include ‘1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow’, ‘Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna’ and ‘Warsaw 1920: Lenin’s Failed Conquest of Europe’. He is married to the painter Emma Sergeant.