War and Peace (1869) is a novel by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy.
Serialized between 1865 and 1867, it was published in book form in 1869
and has since been recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.
Notable for its epic scale, War and Peace encompasses hundreds of
characters, diligently following its five central families across
fifteen years while featuring detailed imaginings of such historical
figures as Napoleon Bonaparte. In Books I-V, he introduces the novels
main characters while setting the stage for war between France and
Russia. When conflict finally breaks out, friends and family members are
torn apart, political alliances are shattered, and peace gives way to
violence and despair. The novel begins with a soirée at the Saint
Petersburg home of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. This scene not only introduces
the central characters of the story, it gives a sense of the extensive
French influence on Russian aristocratic society in 1805. Here, Pierre
Bezukhov--the illegitimate son of a wealthy nobleman--and his friend
Prince Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky discuss their mutual
dissatisfaction with life in Saint Petersburg. While Andrei goes to war
in order to escape an unhappy marriage, Pierre becomes trapped in the
bitter dispute surrounding his inheritance. As the years go by, those
who remain in Moscow and Saint Petersburg must adjust to the realities
of war, while those such as Andrei and Count Nikolai Ilyich Rostov
experience firsthand the horrors of conflict. With its depiction of the
Battle of Austerlitz, a stunning defeat for Russia and its Austrian
allies, Tolstoy's story brings history to life while reminding us that
the past is always closer than we care to think. As ambitious as it is
triumphant, Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece is an epic novel of history and
family, a story of faith and the will to persevere in the face of
unspeakable catastrophe. War and Peace is a work that transcends both
history and description, not just for the scale of its narrative and
setting, but for the scope of its philosophical interests. Since its
publication, it has been praised as an essential work of literature by
Ivan Turgenev, Gustave Flaubert, Thomas Mann, and Ernest Hemingway, and
has been adapted for film, theater, and television countless times. With
a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this
edition of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is a classic of Russian
literature reimagined for modern readers.
