evidence: Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov is best known in the West as the general who led imperial Russian forces to victory over Napoleon during his 1812 invasion of Russia. In Russian culture, Kutuzov became – almost immediately after his death in 1813 – a mythic figure, part of the national pantheon of heroes. To Western readers, he is above all the man presented by Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace: calm, inert, patient, allowing events to unfold before him. In this meticulously researched biography, Alexander Mikaberidze strips off layers of mythmaking and offers a balanced, judicious life of Kutuzov. [...] This book contains 20 maps and over 200 pages of notes, making it a great source for scholars to conduct further research. Alexander Mikaberidze, the author of the highly acclaimed The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History (2020), is Professor of History and Ruth Herring Noel Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. A brief review is insufficient to discuss the rich nuance and detail in which Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace abounds. The determined reader will find Mikaberidze's work a compelling story situating Kutuzov not only in imperial Russian culture and politics but in the broader context of European military history in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This book should remain the standard English-language biography of Kutuzov for years to come. [...] Campbell, Ian. "Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 29 May 2023. Web. 08 Oct 2024.