F. Dostojevsky about eywitnesses

It's such a simple-hearted story; the story of an old soldier, an eyewitness to the French occupation of Moscow; there are charming things in it. Besides, any memoirs by eyewitnesses are precious, whoever the eyewitness may be.

Dostoyevsky, F., The Idiot, translated by R.Pervear and L.Volokhonsky, London: Granta Books, 2001, p.494.