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Book 3, Part 1 Chapter Summaries & Analyses. Chapters 1-7 Summary. Russia again goes to war against France in June 1812. The narrator notes that historians still dispute the events leading up to the war—and none of the given explanations can account for the sheer scale of the conflict.
Summary Chapter 1. In June 1812, Napoleon invades Prussia. Tolstoy pauses the story to meditate on history and its causes. He argues that the typical explanations for history, which attribute war and big events to politics and 'great' men, are insufficient.
Summary. In Chapter 1 Tolstoy inserts the first of several sidebars of historical and philosophical commentary. He begins by saying that on June 12, 1812, "the forces of western Europe crossed the borders of Russia, and war began—that is, an event took place contrary to human reason and to the whole of human nature."
Summary. Vol. 1 (1805) Part 1. Anna Pavlovna, hostess of a social gathering for Petersburg aristocrats, speaks to Prince Vassily Kuragin about Napoleon's recent territory incursion threatening Austria. Since Russia and Austria are allies, Russia will soon go to war.
In Moscow 1812, Adam Zamoyski takes us back to the early 19th century, a time when Napoleon Bonaparte was at the pinnacle of his power. The book begins with the French emperor's grand ambitions and his desire to subjugate Russia, the only European power that had refused to submit to his rule.
Summary. Analysis. Napoleon goes to war with Russia because he can’t help himself—can’t help being overwhelmed by honors, moved by fine weather, and bursting out in anger at diplomats. Emperor Alexander refuses to negotiate because he feels personally offended.
Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Russia in 1812 set the stage for a dramatic clash of empires. In Adam Zamoyski's Moscow 1812, the meticulously researched narrative unveils the complex geopolitical factors and personal ambitions that propelled this historic conflict. Zamoyski provides an immersive account, from the initial French triumphs to ...
