Retreat (Napoleonic Trilogy 3) [Paperback]

Patrick Rambaud (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2005 | Series: Napoleonic Trilogy 3

'The second in Rambaud's "Napoleonic" trilogy deals with the most traumatic event in French history after the Occupation - Napoleon's retreat from Moscow' - "Guardian". As Rambaud's characters - D'Herbigny, Paulin and others - continue the story begun in "The Battle", "The Retreat" unfolds as a convincing and gripping account of a country at war; a mesmerizing and tense drama spun from the story of the French retreat. Told with great narrative flair, precision and vivid detail, Rambaud's account of dire human suffering is both horrific and compelling; a striking testament to the extremes of human behaviour in adversity. 'A chance to get the French version of events' - "Guardian".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Second in Rambaud's Napoleonic trilogy, this installment chronicles the emperor's disastrous Russian campaign of 1812. The book opens as the imperial army, having lost three-quarters of its men on the icy, disease-ravaged march from France, approaches the gates of Moscow, where Napoleon imagines he will rest for the winter, hosted by the conquered czar. Instead, he finds a city emptied of people, food and soldiers—a cold and desolate hell. As in his previous novel, The Battle, Rambaud chooses a few characters to tell the story. Young Sebastian Roque sees nothing romantic about warfare; Captain d'Herbigny, on the other hand, adores military pomp and wishes only for a heroic return to Normandy. Napoleon himself has lost sight of reality, and declares, "This winter we will levy fresh contingents to reinforce us and then we will march on St. Petersburg... or India." But there are no fresh contingents coming nor any food to feed the men who remain. They have no choice but to return to France, facing cold, starvation and disease. Rambaud has a knack for wry pathos that keeps the book from bogging down in horror—a hungry d'Herbigny ties his loose pants up with strings of looted pearls. As one of the most famous military debacles in history, Napoleon's awful march to and from Moscow is riveting, and Rambaud brings a keen immediacy to the harrowing events.
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Review

"'The second in Rambaud's Napoleonic trilogy deals with the most traumatic event in French history after the Occupation -- Napoleon's retreat from Moscow' Guardian 'A chance to get the French version of events' Guardian"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Picador (June 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330489011
• ISBN-13: 978-0330489010
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,694,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Epic events reduced to a human scale, November 25, 2005

By 

Kenneth D. Gartrell "www.kengartrell.com/BLOG/" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Retreat (Hardcover)

Patrick Rambaud is an excellent writer. He plots this account around the retreat from Moscow by the Grande Armee in the Fall of 1812.

The story begins as the French enter the gates of Moscow and ends months later as the survivors of the story return to their lives in Paris surprisingly unimpaired psychologically by one of the great military catastrophes of history. The major events include the burning of Moscow, the aftermath of the fire, the return from Moscow to the Beresina and the passage through Poland and Prussia on the way to Paris.

Against this backdrop, we find in Rambaud's account a human scale where survivors focus on the task of survival and insulate themselves from the chaos and horror of events. He organizes each of the few chapters as if describing details of paintings at each phase of the story. His writing is crisp and imaginative. He evokes texture and empathy. But, he is not sympathetic or opinionated. He does not allow the big picture to overtake or obscure the events of his retelling.

The main characters of the story are never far from the Emperor. The result is the perspective of human scale in the midst of epic events and horrors. Napoleon himself is featured in much of the dialogue and we see how simply the critical decisions such as waiting in Moscow for the Czar to capitulate, retreating from Moscow to escape the peril of Winter in the ruined capital, taking the northern rather than the southern route of egress, choosing the point of crossing the Beresina and separating the Emperor from the Armee to return to Paris are obtained.

The book does not moralize about the immense failure of the invasion of Russia in 1812. It would be more accurate to say that Mr. Rambaud conveys a sense that great historical catastrophe arises as a series of smaller miscalculations. The strategic and tactical decisions fatefully recounted in the Retreat reflect the competition of views among the Marshals and the generals. Helpful insights about the decisions reduce the events to the level individuals can comprehend. And we are left entirely un-reassured; complete with the disconcerting view that we ourselves may have made all the same decisions in all the same ways.

Rather than revising history, Mr. Rambaud changes our perspective. The tale of the carnage and ugliness of the retreat from Moscow is often told and retold. There is little new or revealing in the Retreat about these horrible aspects of the story. Other writers have collectively told the larger story. What seems new in the Retreat is the degree this book adds to the literature a stoic perspective and a human scale. It examines how survivors made their way through the events without being overtaken by them.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pulls You Right In, January 31, 2005

By 

Kostya_2000 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Retreat (Hardcover)

Having read several accounts of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, I wasn't sure this book would have much new to offer. I'm happy to say my fears were unfounded.

By turning it into a story, rather than presenting a dry history, Rambaud puts his audience inside the minds of the soldiers, the civilians, and even the Emperor, himself, in a way that would be impossible for a single eyewitness or purely factual account to do. He displays all the callousness, horror, desperation, venality, and irony of the retreat through the thoughts and actions of his characters. It's this personal approach that hooks you from page one.

Although the extensive research behind the story is obvious, Rambaud doesn't bog down the narrative with numbers and dates and lists. He keeps the story moving at a brisk pace. And no matter which side of the Napoleon-was-a-Hero/Napoleon-was-Evil debate you fall on, whether you're pro-French or pro-Russian, this book will make you feel for those poor French soldiers. It will also make you rethink your understanding of the words "wretched," "tragic," and "waste."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literature as history, March 4, 2007

By 

algo41 "algo41" (philadelphia, pa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Retreat (Paperback)

In his notes after this novel, Rambaud says: "History is not an exact science; ...it should be left to dreamers who can recreate it by instinct". This novel is such an attempt, and it is as literature as a form of history that it excels. The more novelistic elements, especially Sebastian Roque, the secretary, serve their purpose well, and are entertaining, even credible. Rambaud's sympathies, and his cynicism about Napolean and about human beings under stress are apparent, but his is a detached view of the events: he wishes to appeal more to the reader's intellect and capacity for understanding than to his/her emotions.