So I have reached the 90% point in War and Peace (that feature of kindle still makes me giddy). Some observations: As a dedicated amateur military historian, tactician, I find some of Count Tolstoys analysis guilty of the same partiality of clique which he ascribes to others. He ascribes to Prince Koustov motivations and assumptions that there is no way he could ever know (his ancestor being on the staff not withstanding). While I agree that although a tactical draw the Battle of Borodino was a strategic victory for the Russians, no amount of excellent prose can cover the fact that Russian dispositions on the eve of the battle were horrid and cost them dearly. There isnt a cadet at West Point nor Sandhurst who would not have moved some of those 300 guns that never were engaged on the right to the weak Russian left before the battle! There is still some controversy whether the refusal of the Russian left was a result of French movements, a pre-determined action or an accident of the fog of war. In any case it was probably responsible for the death of 10,000 Russians. I have refought this battle hundreds of times in board games and real time computer simulations, and there is no doubt that Russian dispositions before the battle were seriously flawed and Napoleon punted this battle. Forgetting military matters, Tolstoys analysis is a beautiful example of Russian fatalism, that uniquely Russian sense that what is is what should be. In a general sense Tolstoy does capture the Russian soul. I have travelled there, have Russian friends and as is painfully obvious from the book, it is way easier to get a Russian to weep from remorse, sadness, or joy than it is to get him to smile.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 22:56:03 +0000
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