num_pages: 1440
description: At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed for ever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants to soldiers and Napoleon himself. In War and Peace (1863-9), Tolstoy entwines grand themes - conflict and love, birth and death, free will and fate - with unforgettable scenes of nineteenth-century Russia, to create a magnificent epic of human life in all its imperfection and grandeur.Anthony Briggs's superb translation combines stirring, accessible prose with fidelity to Tolstoy's original, while Orlando Figes's afterword discusses the novel's vast scope and depiction of Russian identity. This edition also includes appendices, notes, a list of prominent characters and maps.
language: English
title: War and Peace
titlecomplete: War and Peace
characters: Anna Scherer, Lise Bolkonskaya, Maria Bolkonskaya, Vera Rostova, Platon Karataev, Petya Rostov, Nikolai Rostov, Mikhail Kutuzov, Vasili Denisov, Adolf Berg, Fedja Dolochov, Sonya Rostova, Ilya Rostov, Nikolai Bolkonsky, Anna Drubetskaya, Pierre Bezukhov, Boris Drubetskoy, Anatole Kuragin, Helene Kuragina, Osip Basdeev, Mademoiselle Bourienne, Natasha Rostova, Prince Andrey Bokonsky
genres: Classics, Historical, Russia, Novels, Russian Literature, War, Historical Fiction, Literature, 19th Century, Fiction
ratings_count: 318139
places: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Russia
awards: awardedAt: 1672560000000
name: Audie Award
category: Literary Fiction & Classics and Nominee for Best Female Narrator
publisher: Penguin