The Battle That Shook Europe: Poltava and the Birth of the Russian Empire [Paperback]

Peter Englund (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2002 | ISBN-10: 1860648479 | ISBN-13: 978-1860648472

The Battle of Poltava, 1709, marks the birth of Peter the Great’s vast Russian Empire. In 1700, the Tsar combined with Denmark, Saxony, and Poland to attack Swedish hegemony in the North. When the forces finally defeated King Charles XII of Sweden in 1708 at Poltava, in the Ukraine, it proved the turning-point of the Great Northern War, heralding the collapse of the Swedish Empire and the rise of Russia, the effects of which would be felt for almost three hundred years. Swedish historian Peter Englund’s vivid account of the three violent days of battle is an internationally acclaimed classic of military history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The most outstanding brilliant military history I've ever read" --Sunday Telegraph

About the Author

Peter Englund is a Professor at Uppsala University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris (November 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860648479
• ISBN-13: 978-1860648472
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #819,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent documentary on the "Stalingrad" of 1709 July 12, 2003

By Harald Groven

Format:Paperback

Englund's make me feel I'm reading the news from an "embedded" war correspondent reporting from three centuries ago!

After reading (the Swedish edition of) "Poltava" five years ago, I have read all of his six other books. I haven't read any other historians that resembles Englund's unique style. The closest must be either Barbara W Tuchmans "Distant mirror", Antony Beevor or perhaps even LeRoy Ladruie's "Montaillou".

Why was almost the entire Swedish(+Finnish) army slaughtered or captured in Ukraine on a hot summer day in 1709? Englund has been able to reconstruct the the story of the most disastrous battle in the Swedish history minute by minute. Based on reading of a wealth of primary sources, this documentary novel provides the ultimate introduction to the enigma of how it was possible for poor and sparsely populated country like Sweden to play a guest role as a greater European military power ("Prussia of the north") c1600-1814.

Englund doesn't write strictly traditional style military history: He explains Charles XII's campaign by both economic, political, cultural in addition to the traditional strategic causes. This broad approach to military history has later been developed further in Englund's trilogy about Sweden's 17th century wars. (Unfortunately not yet translated to English. In this trilogy Englund writes Braudel-style "l'histoire totale", discussing all aspect of daily life and mentalities of 17th century Europe to put the warfare in it's complete context.) Englund de-emphasizes any positive significance of military leadership in 1800th century battles. Englund distances himself from any attempts to point out a "scapegoat" for the disastrous decision to go to battle at Poltava. This has been a dominant perspective in the previous 250 years of attempts of explaining the campaign leading to the defeat at Poltava. Englund never portray the soldiers or officers in a heroic manner. His story is as dismal as Remarque's "All quiet on the Western front". Nationalist sentiments, or any admiration for the "warrior king" Charles XII, will probably not survive reading this book...

About the author:
Peter Englund rates among the foremost historians in Scandinavia. He holds a PhD degree in history. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the mentality of the Swedish aristocracy in the 17th century. As a recognition of his writing, he has recently been elected as the 10th member to the prestigious Swedish academy.

Poltava was an instant success. It ha sold 250 000 copies since it's publication in 1988, and it has since been translated into seven languages.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book; limited to Swedish perspective March 19, 2006

By R. W. Levesque VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Englund has written a detailed history of a key battle fought between Sweden and Russia in 1709. Although an interesting book it often becomes bogged down in its detail, both in terms of statistics and in terms of its description of the battle. The book is also limited in that it's told exclusively from the Swedish standpoint. There is little, if any, information from the Russian perspective that may have given more insight into how and why the battle evolved as it did.

However, the book is not without merit. The description of the Swedish army preparing for battle and its later disintegration as attrition and the fog of war took over, is key in understanding why the Swedes lost and allows insight into the impact of the fog of war. It also allows insight into how quickly that factor becomes real once a battle has been joined. Englund does an excellent job of describing the events leading up to the battle especially as they apply to the condition of the Swedish army on the eve of Poltava and its impact on why the Swedish king chose to fight when and how he did.

Despite the book's subtitle, Englund does little to link Poltava to the rise of Russia. Although it appears this is a generally accepted truth, he does not put the battle in the context of the Great Northern War, which didn't end until 1721.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Definite account of unknown, but imortant, event May 3, 2004

By isala

Format:Paperback

This book was originally published in 1988. Its success took everyone by surprise, including the author, then a freshly baked historian at Uppsala University, Sweden. It has retained its bestseller status in Sweden ever since. Now, this excellent book about an important, but comparatively unknown event in world history, has been reissued in the U.S.
Peter Englund follows in the footsteps of Edward Gibbon, who taught that good history should also be good literature. The direct inspiration for this book was John Prebble's 1963 classic book Culloden