£ 18.99, Greenhill Books, 240 x 159mm. 224 pages. 3 maps. 30 illustrations. Hardback. ISBN 1853673730.

IN THE SERVICE OF THE TSAR AGAINST NAPOLEON is a very real groundbreaker for Greenhill as this exciting new book is the first Napoleonic memoir by a Russian officer to have ever been produced in English.

Denis Davidov was an officer of hussars, a partisan, a Russian hero and the inspiration for the character Denisov in Tolstoy's epic War and Peace. Davidov's captivating memoirs, now edited and translated by Gregory Troubetzkoy for Greenhill, recount his adventures in the Napoleonic Wars and convey the Russian perspective on this cataclysmic conflict.

Davidov's dashing recollections cover the confrontation between the French and Russians in Prussia in 18067, including the horrific battle of Eylau; the Russian invasion of Finland in 1808 and defeat of the Swedes; the devastating French invasion of Russia in 1812; and the War of Liberation in Germany and France in 181314.

The memoirs cover Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 in great detail, as it was during this campaign that Davidov made his legendary reputation leading a band of cossacks and hussars against the French. In the summer of 1812, as Napoleon's troops pushed far into the Russian interior, Davidov became a partisan and launched a series of successful raids recounted in great detail in the memoirs on the French lines of communication. By the autumn the French had occupied, then abandoned, Moscow and begun their famous retreat. Davidov's partisans turned to harrying the invaders and were some of the first Russians to enter Poland, hard on the heels of Napoleon's broken army. His account of this triumphant and tragic campaign is one of the finest to have survived and ably presents the victors' point of view of the struggle.

Gregory Troubetzkoy, who lives in Florida, is an expert on Russian aspects of the Napoleonic Wars and the author of a number of articles. Mr Troubetzkoy's translation of Davidov's account of the battle of Eylau was first published in Napoleonic Scholarship: The Journal of the International Napoleonic Society in April 1997. Greenhill then approached Mr Troubetzkoy and arranged for the publication of the complete memoirs, resulting in IN THE SERVICE OF THE TSAR AGAINST NAPOLEON. We asked Mr Troubetzkoy to describe some of the background to this exciting project:

'I was a nine-year-old boy in the summer of 1940 when, in a France overrun by the Nazis, I first became interested in the character Denisov of War and Peace fame. We were stranded in the countryside and my aunt read Tolstoy's novel to us to keep us occupied and to distract us from the terrible events around us. We were transported to another world a world also plunged into war, but filled with chivalry and romance nonetheless. I was very young and much of Tolstoy's writing went way above my head, but Russians have always needed heroes to admire and there were none better than the dashing figure of Denis Davidov (the real-life Denisov).

Davidov was heroic enough to even admire his enemies and Napoleon in particular and this apparent contradiction served to excite my curiosity. The love/hate relationship which many Russians felt for Napoleon was just as true in the Napoleonic Wars as it is now.

Some sixty years later I am delighted to be able to share Davidov's fascinating memoirs with Western readers and hope that, in some small way, this will help promote better understanding of the vast Napoleonic saga from an entirely different perspective.'

More Reviews

Book Review: Reminiscences of a Naval Officer (Napoleonic)
Review: 10mm AIM Napoleonic Figures
Book Review: In the Service of the Tsar