Napoleon's invasion of Russia occupied only six months, June to December 1812, but during that period nearly 500,000 men died. At the start Napoleon was at the height of his power, at the end at his nadir. Why did he invade Russia? Why, in spite of his early successes and the capture of Moscow, did he fail?
Nigel Nicolson writes that he wanted to "...examine the story afresh, consider why one of the greatest commanders in history lost and one of its least gifted won, how Tolstoy misinterpreted the drama and how Hitler, 130 years later, failed to benefit from Napoleon's example ...and to consider in retrospect the folly and wastage of it all."