The Russian Patriotic War of 1812 tells the story that inspired Tolstoy’s epic novel War and Peace and will appeal to those interested in Russian history, military history and wargamers alike. It is the only publicly available translation into English of Bogdanovich’s official history of the Russian Forces involvement fighting against Napoleon and his allies in Russia in 1812. This translation also includes extracts from Ivan Liprandi’s critique of Bogdanovich’s work.
This final volume of the trilogy continues to cover operations from the Russian perspective; from Napoleon’s abandoning of Moscow to the expulsion of the Grande Armée from the Russian Empire, including operations against the Prussian and Austro-Saxon auxiliary corps on the flanks. The author had full access to Russian state archives but also made extensive reference to published works by French and German historians in order to provide greater context. The maps show entire phases of the war, while the battle plans show locations of dominant terrain, according to detailed state surveys, while villages, forests and roads have been copied from previously published Russian plans. Appendices and footnotes also include detailed orders-of-battle, important correspondence, and a bibliography with Bogdanovich’s and Liprandi’s critical assessments of these sources.
