<DIV>Eighteen-year-old German stonemason Jakob Walter served in the Grand Army of Napoleon between 1806 and 1813. His diary intimately records his trials: the long, grueling marches in Prussia and Poland, the disastrous Russian campaign, and the demoralizing defeat in a war few supported or understood. It is at once a compelling chronicle of a young soldier's loss of innocence and an eloquent and moving portrait of the profound effects of all wars on the men who fight them. <p> Also included are letters home from the Russian front, previously unpublished in English, as well as period engravings and maps from the Russian/Soviet and East European collections of the New York Public Library. <p> "Vivid and gruesome ? but also a story of human fortitude. ? It reminds us that the troops Napoleon drove so mercilessly were actually more victims than victors?a side of Napoleon that should not be forgotten."<br> ?<b>Chicago Tribune</b></DIV>