num_pages: 4
description: Often called the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is at once a historical war epic, a philosophical study, and a celebration of the Russian spirit. Noted for its mastery of realistic detail and psychological analysis, it follows the metamorphosis of five aristocratic families against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Individual stories interweave as each of Tolstoy's memorable characters seek fulfillment, fall in love, make mistakes, and become scarred by war in different ways. Out of this complex narrative emerges a profound examination of the individual's place in the historical process. Thomas Mann praised Tolstoy for his Homeric "To be played upon by the animal keenness of this eye, the sheer power of this creative attack, the entirely clear and true greatness...of this epic, is to find one's way home...to everything within us that is fundamental and sane."
language: English
title: War and Peace
titlecomplete: War and Peace
characters: Pierre Bezukhov, Nikolai Rostov, Osip Basdeev, Adolf Berg, Vera Rostova, Sonya Rostova, Anatole Kuragin, Boris Drubetskoy, Petya Rostov, Nikolai Bolkonsky, Helene Kuragina, Anna Scherer, Mikhail Kutuzov, Vasili Denisov, Ilya Rostov, Maria Bolkonskaya, Natasha Rostova, Anna Drubetskaya, Platon Karataev, Lise Bolkonskaya, Mademoiselle Bourienne, Fedja Dolochov, Prince Andrey Bokonsky
genres: Historical, Literature, Classics, Novels, Russian Literature, 19th Century, Russia, War, Historical Fiction, Fiction
ratings_count: 318147
places: Moscow, Russia, St. Petersburg
awards: awardedAt: 1672560000000
name: Audie Award
category: Literary Fiction & Classics and Nominee for Best Female Narrator
publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks