Product Description

This is the story of how the most powerful man on earth met his doom, and how the greatest fighting force ever assembled was wiped out.; By 1810 Napoleon was master of Europe, defied only by Britain, which he could not defeat because he had no navy. His intention was to destroy Britain through a total blockade, the Continental System. But Tsar Alexander of Russia now refused to apply the blockade, and Napoleon decided to bring him to heel.; Napoleon quickly realised that nemesis awaited him, and the events of 1812 had a colossal impact on the fate of Europe: a great patriotic surge helped turn the Russians into a nation (hence Tchaikovsky's '1812' overture) and led them to reject Western values; the Germans began their fateful 'Prussification'; the French lost their cultural dominance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #117314 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-05
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 656 pages

Sunday Times
'Adam Zamoyski's account of the 1812 campaign is so brilliant that it is impossible to put the book aside'

Evening Standard
'Graphically told in heartbreaking detail... Zamoyski elegantly delivers gripping storytelling, bold revisionism and poignant suffering.'

The Spectator
'Magnificent... the description of the retreat is one of the most vivid and horrifying passages of history I have read...'