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BORODINO AND THE WAR OF 1812. By Christopher Dutffy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973. 208 pp. $10.00.
This is first and foremost a book for the military history enthusiast. Christoplher Duffy is a lecturer in war studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sandlhurst, and was one of the advisers to the BBC team wlho made the television serial of Tolstoy's War anid Peace. His book is primarily a detailed descriptive account, based on a wide range of Russian and other sources, of the battle of Borodino, set witlin the framework of a rather brief sketch of the campaign as a whole. Mr. Duffy's colleagues in the Department of Military History at Sandlhurst-Peter Young, David Chandler, Antony Brett-Janmes, and Richard Holmes-have made some notable contributions in recent years to the study of Napoleonic warfare, and readers of Duffy's book will find not only the same enthusiasm for and undoubted expertise in the Napoleonic period of military history but also considerable familiarity with Russian historical writing on the 1812 campaign. The result is a work wlhich provides a competent account of the war as a whole, some valuable insights into the technical capabilities of the forces involved and how arms and troops were managed in combat, together with an enthralling reconstruction of the development of the fighting at Borodino.
As a study of the campaign as a whole Duffy's account does not have much to add to the existing Western literature apart from a clear recognition of the accomplishments and importance of Barclay de Tolly without belittling the merits of Kutuzov. As a study of the figlhting at Borodinlo it is the best-informed and most informiiative accoulnt to date in Englislh. There is a vast literatuire in Russian on the battle, and though Duffy has not covered it all, he has digested a great amount and presents an admirably clear analysis of its successive stages, notable for its unerring emphasis on the salient features anld sober assessment of the role of individuals and formatiolns. Here againi lie does juistice to Barclay without denigrating Kutuzov. He is probably correct in stressing the crucial importance of Platov's apparently futile cavalry thrust againlst the Frenclh left, which enabled Baclay to rally hiis almllost broken forces, but he is disappointing brief on the Russian use of artillery (evidently he is unaware of A. P. Larionlov's 1962 article on this subject), and his account of the action arounld the Shevardino Redoubt derives from the reports of Ermolov alnd Barclay, whose version of events has been challenged by another Soviet historialn, L. P. Bogdanov. Mr. Duffy, however, has no particular ax to grind, and his book is attractive botlh for its scholarslhip and for its readability.
BARRY HOLLINGSWORTH
University of Matnchester |
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