Berezina: From Moscow to Paris on Three Wheels Following Napoleon’s Epic Fail
Sylvain Tesson, Katherine Gregor (Translator)
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Europa Compass (November 5, 2019)
ISBN-13: 9781609455545

October 1812, Napoleon enters Moscow. The Russians have set fire to the city, soon it will be reduced to a pile of ash. The Emperor equivocates, decides to turn back. This is the beginning of the retreat from Russia, a page of History that has become legendary for the degree of suffering and heroic acts that took place along the way.

Two hundred years later, Sylvain Tesson, accompanied by four friends, decides to follow the route of the retreat. Perched in two Russian Ural-brand sidecars, they will rejoin Paris from Moscow, guided by the stories of specters of 1812. Twenty five hundred miles traveled in honor of the soldiers of the Grande Armée. A wild escapade to salute the ghosts of history, across the white plains.

Reviews

“From beginning to end, the story of Berezina is enthralling, funny, and terrifying. At the same time, it is magnificently written.”
―RTL

“For me, Berezina is Sylvain [Tesson]’s most important book.”
―Jean-Christophe Rufin, Le Figaro

“Tesson’s latest book is probably his best [ . . . ] his style, which has reached maturity, is up to capturing the horror of the period, full of blood and drama, but also of humor, alcohol (vodka only) . . . You feel that Tesson is in his element.”
―Libération