With Napoleon In Russia [Hardcover]

Faber Du Faur (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1853674540 | ISBN-13: 978-1853674549 | Publication Date: February 19, 2006 | Edition: First Edition

This handsome book is a unique record of Napoleon's invasion of Russia by Faber du Faur, a talented artist and front-line soldier. It combines his detailed, accurate and compelling illustrations of scenes recorded as they actually happened with his vivid and gripping memoirs of the campaign. The result is a superb and remarkably detailed evocation of 1812, from the sweeping battle scenes which capture the ordeal of Smolensk and Borodino, to the day-to-day struggle to keep campfires burning and famished men fed. Faber du Faur's plates - admired and highly-regarded primary source material - are here presented, for the first time, complete and in full color. His moving and frank memoirs, edited and translated by Jonathan North, are accompanied by a detailed campaign history and biography of the artist. Napoleon's invasion of Russia is a legendary campaign and a captivating story of endurance, survival and the rigors of total war. Few of the 500,000 men to cross the Niemen in July 1812 were to survive - the French army was decimated by the advance into the heart of Russia, and almost completely destroyed in the epic retreat from Moscow. With Napoleon in Russia is a unique presentation of this epic and an unforgettable depiction of the horrors of war.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Stuttgart-born career soldier Christian Wilhelm von Faber du Faur (1780-1857) served for years in the Napoleonic army, like a vast number of able-bodied mercenaries of his day. Also an amateur artist, Faber du Faur drew sketches of what he saw on the campaigns, and these were reproduced in colored plates in varied editions through his lifetime, with various texts in German and French. Popular military historian North (In the Legions of Napoleon, etc.) has translated prose captions from one of Faber du Faur's editions. (Other editions included poetry, making this a debatable choice.) The 92 plates are very much by an amateur artist, someone dedicated to showing detail, but stiffly, without emotiveness. Yet any fan of "outsider" art will feel their strange immediacy, as if the artist were struggling toward an impossible objectivity. Like the images, the clinical tone of the captions seems at some distance from actuality; sometimes terse and clearly translated throughout, they lack personality, going instead for deadpan comments like: "The bodies had been exposed to the burning heat of the summer sun, and they were rotting." Caveats aside, the historical charge of these drawings is enough to justify this release, and their peculiar power more than makes up for any shortcomings in the glosses.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books; First Edition edition (February 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853674540
• ISBN-13: 978-1853674549
• Product Dimensions: 13.4 x 10.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,742,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last!, October 1, 2001

By 

Digby Smith (THETFORD, NORFOLK United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Napoleon In Russia (Hardcover)

I first saw a collection of these justifiably famous plates - alas, only in black and white - over 30 years ago and was at once struck by the great dramatic style, artistry and accuracy of the subjects portrayed. Anyone who has travelled in Russia will at once recognize the style of the wooden houses which can still be found there today. The author has captured the scale, drama and pathos of this historic campaign in a singularly effective and immediate manner, almost with the character of a modern war correspondent`s camera. The text sets the locations for all the pictures and is an invaluable adjunct to them. This book is a show-stopper. Greenhill are to be congratulated for publishing this work and making such rare witnesses to history available to a wide public. Jonathan North is also to be congratulated for his efforts in his handling of the translation of the text. It was worth waiting all this time to have the chance to acquire such an important historical document. Well done again! Digby Smith.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great visuals, June 16, 2008

By 

danny boy "dbswongv" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Napoleon In Russia (Hardcover)

The earlier two reviews are by established authors in the Napoleonic field.
This is actually a very nice pictorial book depicting numerous scenes as recorded by an artist Faber du Faur who accompanied Napoleon on that fateful 1812 campaign. The collected rare pictures are worth the price of the book alone. This book should be on hand when reading any other text on the 1812 campaign as it heightens the reading pleasure.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent pictorial of Napoleon's greatest tradegy, November 3, 2011

By 

Andrew J. Migliore (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: With Napoleon In Russia (Hardcover)

With Napoleon in Russia is a very handsome book using the illustrations by Faber du Faur showing the consequences of Napoleon's disastrous march to Moscow and back again. It is a unique record and really gives you a feel of the ordeal the soldiers lived through or died from. The book is also an excellent accompaniment to probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, the map by Charles Joseph Minard visualizing the losses suffered by Napoleon's army in that fateful Russian campaign of 1812. Recommended.