120 pages: $10

This mini-biography of Marshal Kutuzov is in Russian and English text. Profusely illustrated with period engravings, color illustrations, and photos of the museum collection, the booklet traces the life and actions of Kutuzov.

Some of the tales about this hero are a bit on the far side. Regarding a wound during the battle of Shumy village vs. the Turks in 1772:

"In this battle Kutuzov received a severe wound in the head. As stated in Gen. Dolgorukov's report, "This officer of field rank was wounded by a bullet which hitting him between the eye and temple on one side of the face went out at exactly the same spot on the other side."

Pretty amazing, eh? Must be something lost in the translation...Not to worry, a few years later, the text tells of another, similar head wound in the same place. How strong his optic nerves must be! Of course, his portraiture does show an unusual right eye.

Anyway, the text continues with the overview of his life, blames the Austrians for Austerlitz, and brings him back to save Russia in 1812.

But you're not getting this for the definitive Kutuzov biography. You're picking this up for the illustrations. There is some overlap with The Patriotic War of 1812, but by and large, what a wonderful collection. Most pages have two illustrations, so figure about 200 illustrations all told. Just tremendous, from V. Vereshchagin battle scenes to portraiture of various generals to a multitude of uniform displays -- this booklet is a cornucopia of Russian Napoleonic imagery.

In short, this is absolutely marvelous.

Info: Craig Martelle: E-mail for more information
www.garrison-clubs.org/gauntlet

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com