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Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace
He was the general who triumphed over Napoleon's Grande Armee during the Patriotic War of 1812, not merely restoring national pride but securing national identity. Many Russians consider Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Golenischev-Kutuzov the greatest figure of the 19th century, ahead of Pushkin, Tchaikovsky, even Tolstoy himself.
As award-winning author Alexander Mikaberidze shows in this fascinating, often startling, and wholly humanizing new biography, Kutuzov's story is far more compelling and complex than the myths that have encased him. An unabashed imperialist who rose in the ranks through his victories over the Turks and the Poles, Kutuzov was also a realist and a skeptic about military power. Over his long career-marked equally by victory and defeat, embrace and ostracism—he grew to despise those whose concept of war had devolved to mindless attack.
Here, at last, is Kutuzov as he really was—a master and survivor of intrigue, moving in and out of royal favor, committed to the welfare of those under his command, and an innovative strategist. Across the generations, portraits of Kutuzov have ranged from hagiography to dismissal, with Tolstoy's portrait of him in War and Peace perhaps the most indelible of all. This immersive biography returns a touchstone figure in Russian history to human scale.
As award-winning author Alexander Mikaberidze shows in this fascinating, often startling, and wholly humanizing new biography, Kutuzov's story is far more compelling and complex than the myths that have encased him. An unabashed imperialist who rose in the ranks through his victories over the Turks and the Poles, Kutuzov was also a realist and a skeptic about military power. Over his long career-marked equally by victory and defeat, embrace and ostracism—he grew to despise those whose concept of war had devolved to mindless attack.
Here, at last, is Kutuzov as he really was—a master and survivor of intrigue, moving in and out of royal favor, committed to the welfare of those under his command, and an innovative strategist. Across the generations, portraits of Kutuzov have ranged from hagiography to dismissal, with Tolstoy's portrait of him in War and Peace perhaps the most indelible of all. This immersive biography returns a touchstone figure in Russian history to human scale.
816 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2022
16 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Mikaberidze
39 books76 followersAlexander Mikaberidze is assistant professor of European history at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. He holds a degree in international law from Tbilisi State University (Republic of Georgia, 1999) and a Ph.D. in history from Florida State University (2003). After working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (1996-2000), he taught European and Middle Eastern history at Florida State and Mississippi State Universities and lectured on strategy and policy for the U.S. Naval War College. For his contributions to the Napoleonic studies, he has been awarded the International Napoleonic Society's Legion of Merit Medal and La Renaissance Française's Médaille d'or du Rayonnement Culturel.
Dr. Mikaberidze specializes in the 18th-19th century Europe, particularly the Napoleonic Wars, and the military history of the Middle East. In addition to his articles, Dr. Mikaberidze has written and edited nine books, including Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: Historical Encyclopedia (2011), Napoleon's Great Escape: The Crossing of the Berezina (2010), The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon versus Kutuzov (2007), Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2007), The Russian Officer Corps in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815 (2005, winner of the 2005 Literary Prize of the International Napoleonic Society), The Czar’s General: The Memoirs of a Russian General in the Napoleonic Wars (2005).
Dr. Mikaberidze specializes in the 18th-19th century Europe, particularly the Napoleonic Wars, and the military history of the Middle East. In addition to his articles, Dr. Mikaberidze has written and edited nine books, including Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: Historical Encyclopedia (2011), Napoleon's Great Escape: The Crossing of the Berezina (2010), The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon versus Kutuzov (2007), Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2007), The Russian Officer Corps in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815 (2005, winner of the 2005 Literary Prize of the International Napoleonic Society), The Czar’s General: The Memoirs of a Russian General in the Napoleonic Wars (2005).
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 17, 2025
The Man Behind the Myth
Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenischev-Kutuzov is one of the few figures in history where myth has completely eroded reality. The ‘hero’ of the Patriotic War of 1812, where Napoleon’s Grande Armée was expelled from Russia, ultimately leading to his defeat and downfall two years later (and of course then at Waterloo in 1815). Looking back today we have been told the myth, first by public opinion in the wake of his death, then by 19th century Russian historians. Immortalised by Count Leo Tolstoy in his War and Peace and then stolen and lifted to the heavens as a god by Soviet historians, what we know about the wiry ‘fox from the north’ is Russian propaganda and hagiography. Alexander Mikaberidze looks to dispel these mustruths, but also deliver credit where it is due, to reassess this most famous of Russians.
Over his 65 years of life, the majority was spent away from home at war. Nurtured and picked out by the great 18th century personality, Prince Gregory Potemkin and also an understudy of Alexander Suvorov, Kutuzov grew under the wing of great company. Finding victory against the Ottoman Turks, embarrassing defeat against Napoleon at Austerlitz and eventually lasting fame in the 1812 campaign. Kutuzov’ is a long and distinguished life connected with the very history of Russia. His great grandson was Prince Felix Yusupov who famously murdered Rasputin in the dying days of Imperial Russia. His name is the pinnacle of Soviet propaganda against the backdrop of the Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941. But as Mikaberidze shows, his contemporaries and peers loathed him.
I enjoyed Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace and read it cover to cover in a matter of days. I particularly loved how Mikaberidze deconstructs the myth and then rebuilds him. There we gain a character who was not a genius, but did have a plan, a plan that worked. Ever cautious the old general was under immense pressure during all the wars he fought. None more than ever when he took command from Barclay de Tolley in 1812 to pursue de Tolley’s plan of withdrawing into central Russia to wear down the invading forces. His relationship with Emperor Alexander I was also very strained as Kutuzov’s plan to sit and wait clearly frustrated Russian high society. What is clear is that this environment was toxic with everyone trying to climb the greasy pole and stopping at nothing in order to gain the favour of the Tsar.
What was amazing about Kutuzov is that he managed to survive all of this, without a real plan, but being able to react to Napoleon’s moves. He wanted to ‘out smart’ Napoleon rather than win a great victory against him on the battlefield. His long term plan eventually worked. The craziest fact though is that Kutuzov was hit twice in the head with a musket ball, one at least going into his temple, causing the famous drooping eye (he never though wore an eyepatch). I also learnt a lot about the dynamics of the Russian military hierarchy, Alexander’s pressure and mistrust of Kutuzov and also how Levin von Bennigsen, his one time friend was a deplorable person. The book has also has an excellent ending where it discusses Kutuzov tand his family through the ages and how the myth was formed. Overall the man was clever, someone who could see the bigger picture, had a plan, but was not a military genius and by 1812 was way past his best, frustrating and on borrowed time. An important person in Russia, an important person in history.
Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenischev-Kutuzov is one of the few figures in history where myth has completely eroded reality. The ‘hero’ of the Patriotic War of 1812, where Napoleon’s Grande Armée was expelled from Russia, ultimately leading to his defeat and downfall two years later (and of course then at Waterloo in 1815). Looking back today we have been told the myth, first by public opinion in the wake of his death, then by 19th century Russian historians. Immortalised by Count Leo Tolstoy in his War and Peace and then stolen and lifted to the heavens as a god by Soviet historians, what we know about the wiry ‘fox from the north’ is Russian propaganda and hagiography. Alexander Mikaberidze looks to dispel these mustruths, but also deliver credit where it is due, to reassess this most famous of Russians.
Over his 65 years of life, the majority was spent away from home at war. Nurtured and picked out by the great 18th century personality, Prince Gregory Potemkin and also an understudy of Alexander Suvorov, Kutuzov grew under the wing of great company. Finding victory against the Ottoman Turks, embarrassing defeat against Napoleon at Austerlitz and eventually lasting fame in the 1812 campaign. Kutuzov’ is a long and distinguished life connected with the very history of Russia. His great grandson was Prince Felix Yusupov who famously murdered Rasputin in the dying days of Imperial Russia. His name is the pinnacle of Soviet propaganda against the backdrop of the Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941. But as Mikaberidze shows, his contemporaries and peers loathed him.
I enjoyed Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace and read it cover to cover in a matter of days. I particularly loved how Mikaberidze deconstructs the myth and then rebuilds him. There we gain a character who was not a genius, but did have a plan, a plan that worked. Ever cautious the old general was under immense pressure during all the wars he fought. None more than ever when he took command from Barclay de Tolley in 1812 to pursue de Tolley’s plan of withdrawing into central Russia to wear down the invading forces. His relationship with Emperor Alexander I was also very strained as Kutuzov’s plan to sit and wait clearly frustrated Russian high society. What is clear is that this environment was toxic with everyone trying to climb the greasy pole and stopping at nothing in order to gain the favour of the Tsar.
What was amazing about Kutuzov is that he managed to survive all of this, without a real plan, but being able to react to Napoleon’s moves. He wanted to ‘out smart’ Napoleon rather than win a great victory against him on the battlefield. His long term plan eventually worked. The craziest fact though is that Kutuzov was hit twice in the head with a musket ball, one at least going into his temple, causing the famous drooping eye (he never though wore an eyepatch). I also learnt a lot about the dynamics of the Russian military hierarchy, Alexander’s pressure and mistrust of Kutuzov and also how Levin von Bennigsen, his one time friend was a deplorable person. The book has also has an excellent ending where it discusses Kutuzov tand his family through the ages and how the myth was formed. Overall the man was clever, someone who could see the bigger picture, had a plan, but was not a military genius and by 1812 was way past his best, frustrating and on borrowed time. An important person in Russia, an important person in history.
December 21, 2022
"Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace" by Alexander Mikaberidze is an excellent military biography of the Russian Field Marshal, Mikhail Golenischev-Kutuzov (1747-1813). The hardback edition is 789 pages in length although the actual narrative runs to 519 pages in total. There are 20 small maps covering Kutuzov's major battles and campaigns along with a number of B&W and colour plates in two photograph sections of the book.
The book has been extensively researched, over 200 pages of notes and references along with another 20 pages of a select bibliography. However, with all this in-depth research the author manages to tell a well-told story without getting bogged down in detail. Plus, this is no hagiography, but a balanced and fair biography of a great Russian commander. The author covers Kutuzov's life and military career in a warts and all account.
The first few hundred pages covers Kutuzov's birth, upbringing and his baptism of fire in the numerous campaigns and battles against the Ottoman empire during the Russo-Turkish Wars. We get to read about Kutuzov as he learns his trade as a tactician, strategist and diplomat while fighting against the Turks. The final few hundred pages covers the war against Napoleonic France and of course the famous battles of Austerlitz and Borodino plus all the other battles and skirmishes between and after.
I really enjoyed this book as the author presented Kutuzov and all the other major players in this interesting period of history in a non-biased manner. It was a pleasure to read and not once did I ever get bored with the book, although it was a struggle sometimes to get the right grip on this massive volume as I was drinking my morning coffee and reading!
I am sure that anyone who enjoys military history, or the period of the Napoleonic Wars, would love this book and I think the author has done a tremendous job in presenting Mikhail Golenischev-Kutuzov in a manner that he deserved. Overall, this is stellar effort on behalf of the author and well worth the read.
The book has been extensively researched, over 200 pages of notes and references along with another 20 pages of a select bibliography. However, with all this in-depth research the author manages to tell a well-told story without getting bogged down in detail. Plus, this is no hagiography, but a balanced and fair biography of a great Russian commander. The author covers Kutuzov's life and military career in a warts and all account.
The first few hundred pages covers Kutuzov's birth, upbringing and his baptism of fire in the numerous campaigns and battles against the Ottoman empire during the Russo-Turkish Wars. We get to read about Kutuzov as he learns his trade as a tactician, strategist and diplomat while fighting against the Turks. The final few hundred pages covers the war against Napoleonic France and of course the famous battles of Austerlitz and Borodino plus all the other battles and skirmishes between and after.
I really enjoyed this book as the author presented Kutuzov and all the other major players in this interesting period of history in a non-biased manner. It was a pleasure to read and not once did I ever get bored with the book, although it was a struggle sometimes to get the right grip on this massive volume as I was drinking my morning coffee and reading!
I am sure that anyone who enjoys military history, or the period of the Napoleonic Wars, would love this book and I think the author has done a tremendous job in presenting Mikhail Golenischev-Kutuzov in a manner that he deserved. Overall, this is stellar effort on behalf of the author and well worth the read.
July 13, 2023
A good book, very well written. But I still do believe that Kutuzov was a mediocre commander at his best. If it wasn't for his bumblings Napoleon would have been done at Berezina, he held grudges against various commanders and sidelined them, and was a machiavellian through and through. Poor Chichigov though.
March 4, 2023
This extraordinary man was criticized by his contemporaries, admired by his rank and file, and elevated by the czar for the work he did fighting Napoleon. A great historic work giving us great insight into the Napoleanic wars and the man who led the fight which led to Napoleon’s ultimate defeat. A great read!
December 5, 2022
Kutuzov who defeated the Turks and Napolean was a very successful Russian commander. He was however a flawed human and a courtier of the first order. He not only was successful in war but for a time was a diplomat and the Russian ambassador to the Sublime Porte.
It is written by a Napoleonic scholar who is very familiar with the extensive literature of the period.
I enjoyed it very much
It is written by a Napoleonic scholar who is very familiar with the extensive literature of the period.
I enjoyed it very much
August 10, 2023
When you ask those with a general knowledge of world history how Napoleon lost Russia after taking her capital, they will tell you that it was that nation’s fabled winter. This explanation while broadly true ignores much about the military genius of the French Emperor. He was aware of the challenges of holding his conquests and knew the importance of maintaining supply lines and weathering, if you will the changes of season.
What Napoleon did not count on when he took Moscow was the survival of that’s army and its ability to cut off his supply lines. The Russian army might not have survived Napoleon had it not been for one man: Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Ilarionovich Golenishev-Kutuzov, known to history, as Kutuzov. Had Kutuzov not ordered Russian troops to retreat after the French scored a minor victory Borodino and allowed Napoleon to take Moscow, there likely never would have been a Waterloo. And New Zealand’s capital would have a different name.
And yet Kutuzov is not nearly as well-known as Napoleon.
With his new biography of the Russian Field Marshal, Alexander Mikaberidze seeks to correct that. In a well-researched (over 200 pages of footnotes) book, this Georgian scholar of the Napoleonic wars offers a readable account of how this son of Russian nobility rose to command his nation’s armies just as all seemed lost.
Kutuzov served in Poland, Finland and in various campaigns against the Ottomans, twice suffering injuries to his face, resulting in permanent damage to his right eye.
Tapped to be director general of the Land Noble Cadet Corps, “one of the premier institutions of military education in Russia,” Kutuzov revised its curriculum, “which he found too theoretical and detached.” Drawing “upon his experiences”, Mikaberidze writes, “Kutuzov sought to reorient it to the corps’s original objective—that of training a new generation of military officers.” His program “centered on practical military matters rather than on nonmilitary subjects.”
But Kutuzov learned more than just military tactics. He also learned to play court politics. He studied the tenets of French philosopher and moralist Jean de La Bruyére and became “an accomplished courtier”. As Sergei Mayevskii observed, “no one could match his ability to induce a person to talk or make someone feel special; and no one was as subtle as Kutuzov in sweet-talking and hoodwinking a person he chose to deceive or enchant…. He possessed the craftiest political mind.”
He became a great favorite of Catherine the Great. But despite his political skills, Kutuzov struggled to gain the same esteem in the courts of her successors.
Still. he commanded Russian armies, defeating the Turks in the Bessarabian campaign of 1811, helping secure a treaty on May 28, 1812 that ended “the longest war between the Russian and Ottoman Empires”. Less than a month later, Napoleon’s Grande Armée would gross the Nieman River, invading the Russian Empire. As Napoleon advanced, the Russian army faltered. Clamor arose for Barclay de Tolly, the then-commander, to be replaced.
While there was broad support for Kutuzov to take command, Czar Alexander I was not as favorably disposed to his grandmother’s favorite as she had been. But the czar understood his nation’s need. So, imposing silence on his own feelings, on August 19, 1812, he appointed Kutuzov “as the supreme commander of Russia’s armed forces.”
Nineteen days later, Kutuzov would face off against Napoleon near a little town barely seventy miles west of Moscow: Borodino. There, in one of the bloodiest battles in world history, the French would score a Pyrrhic victory. The Russian army was “driven back from its original positions on the left and in the center but still held a defensive line on the right”.
Having not been completely vanquished, some Russians wanted to stay and fight another day. Kutuzov knew better. He saw how devastated his army was. Still, he announced “an impending attack” in order to “keep the units together and create the impression that the army was in better shape than in actually was.” This announcement was, as his orderly reported, made out of “political considerations”, but as Mikaberidze notes, “these were crucial considerations.”
The political skills Kutuzov gained in learning to maneuver through aristocratic circles as court served him well as he prepared to retreat to Mozhaisk, the Russian army still intact. It may have been early September, but the savvy Russian strategist knew that winter was coming.
His army survived to defeat Napoleon’s forces at Tarutino, prompting the Emperor to abandon Moscow before it was surrounded. And an intact Russian army would harry him as he retreated. He may have scored “a tactical victory” at Maloyaroslavets, but “realized that Kutuzov still held an operational advantage.” While this was only the “third-largest engagement of the campaign”, Mikaberidze writes that it “surpassed the other battles in importance” as “it forced the French to retrace their footsteps through the devastated provinces, where they could not hope to secure sufficient provisions.”
The rest is, as they say, history. Without adequate provisions, Napoloen’s Grande Armée could not weather the Russian winter.
Russia was lost to Napoleon. Soon Germany and Austria would be as well.
In this biography of Kutuzov, Alexander Mikaberidze shows how, through his education in military strategy and tactics as well as court politics, Kutuzov gained the skills to turn a defeat at Borodino into a victory for his nation. And so outwitted one of the greatest military minds of all time.
All too many, even those who study history, know all too little of Prince Mikhail Ilarionovich Golenishev-Kutuzovose. But given the role he played in helping end the Napoleonic Wars, his story needs telling. And that is why Alexander Mikaberidze’s biography needs reading.
What Napoleon did not count on when he took Moscow was the survival of that’s army and its ability to cut off his supply lines. The Russian army might not have survived Napoleon had it not been for one man: Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Ilarionovich Golenishev-Kutuzov, known to history, as Kutuzov. Had Kutuzov not ordered Russian troops to retreat after the French scored a minor victory Borodino and allowed Napoleon to take Moscow, there likely never would have been a Waterloo. And New Zealand’s capital would have a different name.
And yet Kutuzov is not nearly as well-known as Napoleon.
With his new biography of the Russian Field Marshal, Alexander Mikaberidze seeks to correct that. In a well-researched (over 200 pages of footnotes) book, this Georgian scholar of the Napoleonic wars offers a readable account of how this son of Russian nobility rose to command his nation’s armies just as all seemed lost.
Kutuzov served in Poland, Finland and in various campaigns against the Ottomans, twice suffering injuries to his face, resulting in permanent damage to his right eye.
Tapped to be director general of the Land Noble Cadet Corps, “one of the premier institutions of military education in Russia,” Kutuzov revised its curriculum, “which he found too theoretical and detached.” Drawing “upon his experiences”, Mikaberidze writes, “Kutuzov sought to reorient it to the corps’s original objective—that of training a new generation of military officers.” His program “centered on practical military matters rather than on nonmilitary subjects.”
But Kutuzov learned more than just military tactics. He also learned to play court politics. He studied the tenets of French philosopher and moralist Jean de La Bruyére and became “an accomplished courtier”. As Sergei Mayevskii observed, “no one could match his ability to induce a person to talk or make someone feel special; and no one was as subtle as Kutuzov in sweet-talking and hoodwinking a person he chose to deceive or enchant…. He possessed the craftiest political mind.”
He became a great favorite of Catherine the Great. But despite his political skills, Kutuzov struggled to gain the same esteem in the courts of her successors.
Still. he commanded Russian armies, defeating the Turks in the Bessarabian campaign of 1811, helping secure a treaty on May 28, 1812 that ended “the longest war between the Russian and Ottoman Empires”. Less than a month later, Napoleon’s Grande Armée would gross the Nieman River, invading the Russian Empire. As Napoleon advanced, the Russian army faltered. Clamor arose for Barclay de Tolly, the then-commander, to be replaced.
While there was broad support for Kutuzov to take command, Czar Alexander I was not as favorably disposed to his grandmother’s favorite as she had been. But the czar understood his nation’s need. So, imposing silence on his own feelings, on August 19, 1812, he appointed Kutuzov “as the supreme commander of Russia’s armed forces.”
Nineteen days later, Kutuzov would face off against Napoleon near a little town barely seventy miles west of Moscow: Borodino. There, in one of the bloodiest battles in world history, the French would score a Pyrrhic victory. The Russian army was “driven back from its original positions on the left and in the center but still held a defensive line on the right”.
Having not been completely vanquished, some Russians wanted to stay and fight another day. Kutuzov knew better. He saw how devastated his army was. Still, he announced “an impending attack” in order to “keep the units together and create the impression that the army was in better shape than in actually was.” This announcement was, as his orderly reported, made out of “political considerations”, but as Mikaberidze notes, “these were crucial considerations.”
The political skills Kutuzov gained in learning to maneuver through aristocratic circles as court served him well as he prepared to retreat to Mozhaisk, the Russian army still intact. It may have been early September, but the savvy Russian strategist knew that winter was coming.
His army survived to defeat Napoleon’s forces at Tarutino, prompting the Emperor to abandon Moscow before it was surrounded. And an intact Russian army would harry him as he retreated. He may have scored “a tactical victory” at Maloyaroslavets, but “realized that Kutuzov still held an operational advantage.” While this was only the “third-largest engagement of the campaign”, Mikaberidze writes that it “surpassed the other battles in importance” as “it forced the French to retrace their footsteps through the devastated provinces, where they could not hope to secure sufficient provisions.”
The rest is, as they say, history. Without adequate provisions, Napoloen’s Grande Armée could not weather the Russian winter.
Russia was lost to Napoleon. Soon Germany and Austria would be as well.
In this biography of Kutuzov, Alexander Mikaberidze shows how, through his education in military strategy and tactics as well as court politics, Kutuzov gained the skills to turn a defeat at Borodino into a victory for his nation. And so outwitted one of the greatest military minds of all time.
All too many, even those who study history, know all too little of Prince Mikhail Ilarionovich Golenishev-Kutuzovose. But given the role he played in helping end the Napoleonic Wars, his story needs telling. And that is why Alexander Mikaberidze’s biography needs reading.
January 16, 2024
I really enjoyed this thorough biography of Field Marshall Prince Kutuzov. The book covers the entire life of Russian general covering his early career against the Ottomans (which I knew next to nothing about), his time as an ambassador to the Sublime Porte, the disastrous Austerlitz campaign, his successful retreat after, and renewed war against the ottomans that saw Kutuzov emerge victorious.
The most interesting and extensive part of the narrative revolves around the 1812 campaign when Napoleon invaded Russia. The author uses many accounts of those who surrounded Kutuzov, both positive and negative, in order to try and find the real man, who was a court intriguer who relished imperial titles and honors that the Czar showered him with. Interestingly, Czar Alexander was not a fan of Kutuzov, but appointed him to lead the Russian forces in the face of Napoleon’s invasion due to public outcry for a true born Russian to lead the armies.
This is a dense read and only for the enthusiast of Napoleonic History. I rate it as one of the greatest biographies I’ve read of the era. I would love to see more modern, up to date of other massive figures of the Napoleonic era come out besides just works on Wellington. Would like to see studies with modern scholarship of Blucher, Archduke Charles, and others such as King of Prussia Frederick Wilhelm III and Austrian Emperor Francis.
The most interesting and extensive part of the narrative revolves around the 1812 campaign when Napoleon invaded Russia. The author uses many accounts of those who surrounded Kutuzov, both positive and negative, in order to try and find the real man, who was a court intriguer who relished imperial titles and honors that the Czar showered him with. Interestingly, Czar Alexander was not a fan of Kutuzov, but appointed him to lead the Russian forces in the face of Napoleon’s invasion due to public outcry for a true born Russian to lead the armies.
This is a dense read and only for the enthusiast of Napoleonic History. I rate it as one of the greatest biographies I’ve read of the era. I would love to see more modern, up to date of other massive figures of the Napoleonic era come out besides just works on Wellington. Would like to see studies with modern scholarship of Blucher, Archduke Charles, and others such as King of Prussia Frederick Wilhelm III and Austrian Emperor Francis.
July 5, 2023
Ok, this is probably 4.5 stars, but it is still a superlative biography. I don't know how many languages Dr. Mikaberidze is fluent in, but his research and writing are in-depth, wide-reaching, thoughtful, balanced, explanatory, and thorough. It is a terrific read about an amazing, complicated, flawed actor in a challenging and complex world. Dr. Mikaberidze guides us through the complexities and contradictions in a flawless and most readable manner. Kutuzov, the Fox of the North, was a stalwart of the Russian military. His role spanned and intertwined with three Czars, Catherine II, Paul, and Alexander. He fought in the Ottoman Wars, the Polish-Lithuanian Wars, and against Napoleon Bonaparte. He was lauded and disliked, even hated. To catch the essence of such a multi-faceted character is difficult, but Dr. Mikaberidze pulls it off.
April 9, 2023
I read this in conjunction with War and Peace to give historical context. It was very informative, well written. I don’t usually read military history but with the War and Peace background the battle scenes were very interesting. This is not a hagiography, the author presents Kutuzov warts and all, unlike Tolstoy.
November 13, 2023
Magnificent biography of the hero of War and Peace. The documentary evidence he unearths is astonishing. What is most intriguing is the detailed accounts of the various battles from War and Peace where you can see how Tolstoy has reshaped historical truth and how he has captured it. The scenes at Austerlitz, the retreat through Moscow, and Tarutino are particularly spellbinding.
February 2, 2023
4.5 stars.
July 9, 2024
I liked when near-death decrepit Kutuzov and the czar were hugging and kissing and giggling while discussing battle plans near the end
November 21, 2025
Amazingly written. Extremely knowledgeable. Glad I decided to read this
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews