“Human life is short and fleeting, and many millions of individuals, who share in it, are swallowed by that monster of oblivion which is waiting for them with ever-open jaws. It is thus a very thank-worthy task to try to rescue something— – the memory of interesting and important events, or the leading features and personages of some epoch— – from the general shipwreck of the world.” Arthur Schopenhauer

Monday, January 19, 2015

My new book is out!

Hot off the press:

Russian Eyewitness Accounts of the 1807 Campaign (London: Pen & Sword, 2015)

 After his crushing defeat of Prussia in 1806, Napoleon marched into Poland to forestall any Russian attempts to come to the aid of their ally. There then followed the bloody battle in a blizzard at Eylau on 8 February 1807, which decimated both armies. Operations resumed in the spring and on 14 June Napoleon wrecked the Russian field army at Friedland. Napoleon and Emperor Alexander met at Tiltsit, and French mastery of north-west Europe was confirmed.
This is the first book to bring together dozens of Russian letters, memoirs and diaries, with authors ranging from the commander-in-chief (Benningsen) to NCOs. We see the brutal conditions of the winter campaign at first hand, and gain fresh insight into the infamous Treaty of Tiltsit and the diplomatic manoeuvring that followed it.


http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Russian-Eyewitnesses-of-the-Campaign-of-1807-Hardback/p/7218