About the book: 2014 / Kutuzov - yes, Bagration - yes, Platov - yes, Davydov - yes, all heroes, saved everyone Russia in 1812 from a little Frenchman, the great Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. And Barclay de Tolly? It also seems to be yes... but somehow uncertainly, in the background. An amazing – and, unfortunately, far from unique for our history – situation: a man whose brilliant strategic foresight made it possible to preserve the army and give a victorious decisive battle to the enemy was considered almost a traitor among his compatriots. Everyone knows from school that Kutuzov is the conqueror of Napoleon, and it is ungrateful to belittle his merits. But what would Mikhail Illarionovich have done if he had not had an army under Borodin? But Barclay saved the army. And it was Barclay de Tolly who, for the first time in wars of this scale, used the “scorched earth” tactic, when the enemy was cut off from the rear and supplies. That is why the French came to Borodino not at the peak of their fighting spirit, but exhausted from “drawn” battles and partisan warfare. The outstanding commander Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818) had the opportunity to command the Russian army in the initial, most difficult period of the Patriotic War of 1812. His book “Representation of the Military Actions of 1812” is a first-person narrative, a collection of documents that contain answers to the questions: why the strategic retreat was undertaken, who made the most important decisions and how they managed to turn the tide of events and defeat Napoleon’s army, which was considered invincible. The modern reader will be able to plunge into the atmosphere of those years and feel what that retreat meant for the country and at what price was paid for that victory, the 200th anniversary of which Russia celebrated in 2012. Barclay de Tolly was unlucky to become a “prophet” in his Fatherland. And his origin was “wrong”: what kind of patriot of Russia is a man who was called Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly from birth? And he quickly rose up the career ladder, surpassing many “worthy ones.” And his military exploits were mostly... rearguard. So in 1812 he was condemned. Some silently, some openly. And Barclay, feeling a guilt that was not there, tried to atone for it by deliberately exposing himself to bullets in the Battle of Borodino. But death passed him by, and during the Foreign Campaign, for the capture of Paris, Mikhail Bogdanovich received a field marshal's baton. A. S. Pushkin was one of the first to speak about the true role of Barclay de Tolly in the Patriotic War of 1812. His poem “Commander” is dedicated to our hero, and in the “unwritten” 10th chapter of “Eugene Onegin” there are the following lines: The storm of the twelfth year has come - who helped us here? The frenzy of the people, Barclay, winter or the Russian god? So let time, the fairest judge, put everything in its place and fully reward the great Russian commander, who was undeservedly neglected by the gratitude of his contemporaries. The electronic publication of the book by M. B. Barclay de Tolly includes the full text of the paper book and selected illustrative material. And for true connoisseurs of gift editions, we offer a classic book with an exceptional selection of illustrations, extended comments on the text and illustrative material. Beautiful printing, original design, the best offset paper - all this makes the books of the “Great Commanders” gift series the best gift for a man for all occasions.