When I decided to read this book I did have a slight idea of what I was stepping into. Little did I know I would be walking through a forgotten world that is lost to history. Having been to St. Petersburg and Moscow and read much on the life of European nobility of the 19th and 18th centuries and the French Revolution and Napoleon’s conquests it was not like reading an unknown book. It felt like I was stepping back into a well know historical fantasy world created by Leo Tolstoy where I didn’t know what was going to happen: but I was not a foreigner, rather I was a fellow citizen. This stands in contrast to the alien culture of communism that Russia has been known for in the last 20th century.

From the Battle of Austerlitz to the two part 28 chapter epilogue, I found the book to be fascinating. It wasn’t the easiest to read, I started this in the middle of November, and it took me until the middle of February to finish. But I found that the impression that this left upon me was one of special wonder.

As I read this book Russia has been posturing and preparing for war with Ukraine. In the news today they announced that war could begin as soon as Wednesday.