Factual Friday

(The Crimean) War and Peace

Welcome to another addition of Factual Friday. Today’s post is a bit of departure of facts and figures but I found an interesting tidbit in “The Crimean War” by Orlando Figes (yes, I’m still reading it!).

Turns out (and I may be in the minority here, but I had no idea) Leo Tolstoy, author of “War and Peace” is mentioned heavily throughout the middle of the book. He was an officer in the Russian Army during the Crimean War and while I haven’t read War and Peace, apparently his commanding officer, General Mikhail Gorchakov, was the inspiration for Tolstoy’s character, General Kutuzov. “I saw him under fire for the first time that morning. You can see he’s so engrossed in the general course of events that he simply doesn’t notice the bullets and cannon-balls” wrote Tolstoy to his brother Nikolai about Gorchakov. Throughout the rest of the passage, it’s evident Tolstoy thought highly of his commanding officer and thought him a rather brave and courageous man.

Has anyone read “War and Peace”? Is Kutozov portrayed as courageous and brave? What are your thoughts?

I’ll be back next week (post will really be on Saturday) with a return to a more normal Factual Friday…until then, have a great week!