Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March by Adam Zamoyski ISBN 0061075582 $29.95 Hardcover HarperCollins Publishers Napoleon's invasion of Russia and his ensuing terrible retreat from Moscow played out as military epic and human tragedy on a colossal scale—history's first example of total war. In this gripping, authoritative account, Adam Zamoyski has drawn on the latest Russian research—as well as a vast pool of firsthand accounts in French, Russian, German, Polish, and Italian—to paint a vivid picture of the experiences of soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict. He shows how the relationship between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander came to distort their alliance and bring about a war that neither man wanted. Dramatic, insightful, and enormously absorbing, Moscow 1812 is a masterful work of history.

"Adam Zamoyski’s account of the 1812 campaign is so brilliant that it is impossible to put the book aside." —Michael Burleigh, The Sunday Times "A harrowing account. ... Utterly admirable. It combines clarity of thought and prose with a strong narrative drive." —Antony Beevor, The Daily Telegraph "Told with vigor, sweep, and insight, Moscow 1812 brings this epic moment to life in a thoroughly fascinating way." —Jay Winik, author of April 1865 "Zamoyski elegantly delivers gripping storytelling, bold revisionism, and poignant suffering." —Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Evening Standard