Eagles Over the Alps: Suvorov in Italy and Switzerland, 1799

FROM THE PUBLISHER

One of the world's greatest Wing military historians has done extensive fresh research in European archives to present a compelling narrative of one of the greatest campaigns of the era of the French Revolution and Empire.

Alexander V. Suvorov was one of the greatest generals in Russian history. Although his entire lifetime (1729-1800) was spent under the czars, such was his fame that the Order of Suvorov was one of Soviet Russia's highest decorations. The dramatic campaign in Switzerland and italy of 1799-1800 was his last, and one of his finest, performances.

Out of favor with the eccentric Czar Paul, the seventy-year-old Suvorov was recalled to active duty during the War of the Second Coalition (1799-1800). The most active theater of the War was northern Italy where Russian and Austrian forces faced the French. Both sides were hampered by unreliable allied contingents and political interference.

Despite his age, Suvorov planned to defeat several separate French armies before they could combine, by a series of forced marches across some of the most difficult terrain in Europe. Plagued by less-than-able Austrian generals and constant interference from Vienna. Suvorov nevertheless won some brilliant victories. An Austrian defeat at Zurich, however, eventually made his situation untenable and he was forced to withdraw. A convenient scapegoat for the failure of the campaign, he was dismissed by Czar Paul and died in disgrace the following year.