Napoleon and Russia

This book tells for the first time the full story of Napoleon's crucial relationship with Russia, from the 1790s and Bonaparte's rise to power, through the period of Austerlitz, Tilsit and the Russian invasion, to the Emperor's fall and its aftermath. In doing so, it not only puts the critical events of 1812 in their proper context as part of an even greater tale-of peace as well as war, friendship as well as enmity-but it also provides fresh insight into the Napoleonic period as a whole, questioning many of the assumptions about the era prevalent in the English-speaking world. Indeed, it is in some ways a recasting of the whole Napoleonic saga. By putting France's relations with Russia, rather than (as is usual in Anglophone culture) with Britain, at the heart of the story, it opens up new interpretations on familiar themes, such as why Austria and Britain made peace with France in 1801-02, the formation of the Third Coalition, the reasons for the fateful invasion of 1812, and the key causes of the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire. The tale boasts a cast of captivating characters to rival any novel: the rulers, Napoleon himself, Catherine the Great, 'Mad' Tsar Paul and the enigmatic Alexander I; generals such as Ney, Murat, Davout, Suvorov, Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly; statesmen like Talleyrand, Caulaincourt, Czartoryski and Rumiantsev; and, of course, the ordinary soldiers who fought some of the most intriguing and important campaigns in history. The fascinating diversity of the personalities is matched only by the grandeur and importance of the events they lived through and directed. Whether on the battle-field, as at Friedland, Borodino or Leipzig, or in diplomatic maneuvering in Paris, St Petersburg or any of the other European capitals, the course of Europe's, indeed the world's, history was shaped in fundamental ways during this period; and central to this story was the relationship between Napoleon and Russia.