Synopses & Reviews
The Battle of Poltava, 1709, marks the birth of Peter the Greats vast Russian Empire. In 1700, the Tsar combined with Denmark, Saxony, and Poland to attack Swedish hegemony in the North. When the forces finally defeated King Charles XII of Sweden in 1708 at Poltava, in the Ukraine, it proved the turning-point of the Great Northern War, heralding the collapse of the Swedish Empire and the rise of Russia, the effects of which would be felt for almost three hundred years. Swedish historian Peter Englunds vivid account of the three violent days of battle is an internationally acclaimed classic of military history.
Review
"The most outstanding brilliant military history I've ever read" --Sunday Telegraph
About the Author
Peter Englund is a Professor at Uppsala University.
Table of Contents
The Stoat * The March: * Sunday Morning * The Road to Poltava * The War * The Campaign * Anatomy of a Battlefield * A Council of War * Sunday Evening * The Battle: * Let Us Go Forward * Give the Enemy No Time * Cavalry Forward!! Shot in Vain * Would God Roos Were Here * They Are Leaving Their Lines * Not My Men but the King’s * Sheep to Sacrifical Slaughter * No Musket-ball Will Hit * As Grass Before a Scythe * The Devil Couldn’t Make them * It Goes Ill * He Tramples Down * All is Lost * To Gather in Retreat * Bodies Mountain-High * The Retreat: * 100,000 Roubles * Fight at My Command * Would They Defend Themselves * Not Without Tears * Epilogue: * A Fist Filled with Soil
The Stoat * The March: * Sunday Morning * The Road to Poltava * The War * The Campaign * Anatomy of a Battlefield * A Council of War * Sunday Evening * The Battle: * Let Us Go Forward * Give the Enemy No Time * Cavalry Forward!! Shot in Vain * Would God Roos Were Here * They Are Leaving Their Lines * Not My Men but the King’s * Sheep to Sacrifical Slaughter * No Musket-ball Will Hit * As Grass Before a Scythe * The Devil Couldn’t Make them * It Goes Ill * He Tramples Down * All is Lost * To Gather in Retreat * Bodies Mountain-High * The Retreat: * 100,000 Roubles * Fight at My Command * Would They Defend Themselves * Not Without Tears * Epilogue: * A Fist Filled with Soil