Defeat Napoleon's Russian Campaign

Philippe-Paul de Segur was a young aide-de-camp to Napoleon, privy to the councils of the emperor's inner circle. There he witnessed the debates surrounding the decision to invade Russia in the summer of 1812. The emperor's generals opposed the venture, and even Napoleon entered on it against his better judgment. Nonetheless, overcome by the desire to further what he saw as France's civilizing mission in the world, and furthering too the glory of Napoleon, he found the undertaking too tempting to resist. Segur describes the subsequent campaign with a crack reporter's eye both for the big story and for the telling detail: we witness the dizzying forward march through the long hot days of the summer; the supply lines growing more stretched with every apparently effortless victory; the Grande Armee suffering unanticipated losses even in its triumphal progress; the taking and sacking of Moscow, and its abandonment; the disastrous winter retreat that destroyed Napoleon's army and insured his downfall. In the end, the only regime that was changed was Napoleon's own. Segur's account of what is to this day one of the greatest military disasters of all time is a masterpiece of military history and was an essential source for Tolstoy'sWar and Peace. Segur's book also provides a vivid and unmistakable lesson about imperial hubris.

Philippe-Paul de Segur (1780—1873) was a French general and historian. Born in Paris, he enlisted in the French cavalry in 1800 and served in many important campaigns and diplomatic missions with Napoleon. During his retirement he wrote the History of the Expedition to Russia Undertaken by the Emperor Napoleon in the Year 1812, which ran through many editions and was translated into several languages. In 1830 he was admitted to the Academie francaise, and he became grand cross of the Legion of Honor in 1847.


Mark Danner has written about foreign affairs and American politics for more than two decades. He was for many years a staff writer at The New Yorker and contributes frequently to The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications. He teaches at the University of California at Berkeley and at Bard College in New York.