Diary of a Napoleonic Footsoldier | Jakob Walter

Diary of a Napoleonic Footsoldier | Jakob Walter | Extremely interesting

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Diary of a Napoleo...

	Diary of a Napoleonic Footsoldier Jakob Walter Doubleday, 1991 - 170 pages average customer review:based on 11 reviews
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highly recommended

Wonderful!!

An outstanding book for anyone interested in history. Although it was somewhat common for politicians, generals and admirals to keep logs, it was extremely rare for a person of lower rank to write anything. Mainly because few of them could read or write.

The main part of the book and by far the most interesting is the authors diary of Napoleon's march into Russia during 1812. Nearly half of million men entered Russia. Jakob details the problems of such a large army and the lack of food. The Russians were destroying everything whilst in retreat. These problems however were nothing compared to that which was to come after the army left Moscow to return home. Only 25,000 from 500,000 survived. Jakob barely got out alive despite the hunger, attacks from other soldiers in his own army and the Cossack raids onto the rear of the retreating army.

The book was not written as a daily diary. That was just not possible. Jakob wrote the diary years later. The main item that stands out is that he details the facts without clouding the images with any political views or emotions.

I truly wish that there were more books of this nature by the common solider or sailor.

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Extremely interesting

I had absolutely no knowledge of war in general or of this era but just happened upon this book and found it a totally compelling read. Absolutely fascinating. Keep in mind too that I am female, college educated (engineering/art) but one who avoided all history and related classes like the plague in high school & college--but I truely enjoyed this book and it made a huge impact on my mind. I plan to insist that my children read it. It certainly makes one thankful for what one enjoys in our society today.

Great read for those interested in 17th-18th century warfare

I find this book to be a great read. Almost everyone has some knowledge of the glory of Napoleon and his mighty army but few have heard about the common soldiers who fought them. This book truly depicts the hell that is war. Although it's an easy read for anyone, it's of considerable historic value. It provides a first hand account of the methods of warfare for the better party of 16th-19th century. Excellent read, go get it.

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A fascinating book ...

After reading a brief biography of Napoleon, I picked this book to get acquainted with the tough lives of soldiers. I agreed that Napoleon was a great soldier and strategist, but the events that ocurred in the Russian Campaign were disastrous, with a total disregard for the lives of soldiers, especially the allies. These people died slowly, mostly because of starvation and cold, fighting and dreaming to get home alive.

A few people did manage to get home save, and this story is a unique account of that, in particular when the army have to "reculé" from Moscow. A fascinating book to learn the unknown facts of wars in this period.

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interesting - but for a narrow audience

The "diary" (it was put together years after the Napoleonic Wars0 privides the reader with a decent perspective on the hard life of a conscript in Napoleon's Grand Armee. The fact that a conscript was literate is in itself remarkable - even more so when you judge the book's command of language (maybe with a little "help" from the editor.) But the book, as short as it is, is not for everyone. I would recommend it to those who are familiar with the Napoleonic campaigns, military historians, or those (like myself) who enjoy memoirs. The brutality and senslessness of the combat, and especially his account of the retreat out of Russia are fabulous. Less so the rest of the book, especially the letters at the end.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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