The Diary of a Napoleonic Footsoldier: Edited & with an Introduction By Marc Raeff: A Unique Eyewitness Account of the Face of Battle from Inside the Ranks of Bonaparte's Grand Army - Softcover

Walter, Jakob

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140165592 ISBN 13: 9780140165593

Publisher: Penguin, 1993

Synopsis

Eighteen-year-old German stonemason Jakob Walter served in the Grand Army of Napoleon between 1806 and 1813. His diary intimately records his trials: the long, grueling marches in Prussia and Poland, the disastrous Russian campaign, and the demoralizing defeat in a war few supported or understood. It is at once a compelling chronicle of a young soldier's loss of innocence and an eloquent and moving portrait of the profound effects of all wars on the men who fight them.

Also included are letters home from the Russian front, previously unpublished in English, as well as period engravings and maps from the Russian/Soviet and East European collections of the New York Public Library.

"Vivid and gruesome ... but also a story of human fortitude. ... It reminds us that the troops Napoleon drove so mercilessly were actually more victims than victors--a side of Napoleon that should not be forgotten."
--Chicago Tribune

About this title

About the Author:

Mark Raeff, the Boris Bakhmeteff Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies at Columbia University, is a scholar of pre-revolutionary Russia. His books include Understanding Imperial Russia, Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia, The Well-Ordered Police State, and Russian Abroad.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0140165592
• ISBN 13: 9780140165593
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208