War, the hero and the will
Subtitle: Hardy, Tolstoy and the Napoleonic wars
By: Jane L. Bownas
Publisher: Sussex Academic Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Brighton, [England]; Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 189
ISBN-13: 9781845196707
Subjects: Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815; Literature and the wars; In literature; War in literature; Heroic virtue in literature; Free will and determinism in literature
Other titles: Hardy, Tolstoy and the Napoleonic wars
Description: "Thomas Hardy's The Dynasts and Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace are both works which defy attempts to assign them to a particular genre but might seem to have little else in common apart from being set in the same period of history. This study argues that there are important similarities between these two works and examines the close correspondence between Hardy's and Tolstoy's thinking on themes relating to war, ideas of the heroic and the concept of free will. Although coming from very different backgrounds, both writers were influenced by their experiences of war, Tolstoy directly, by involvement in the wars in the Caucasus and the Crimea, and Hardy indirectly, by the events of the Anglo-Boer Wars. Their reaction to these experiences found expression in their descriptions of the wars fought against Napoleon at the beginning of the century. Hegel saw Napoleon as 'the great world-historical man of his time', and this work considers the ways in which Hardy and Tolstoy undermine this view, portraying Napoleon's physical and mental decline and questioning the role he played in determining the outcomes of military actions" --
Notes: "First published in 2015 in Great Britain by Sussex Academic Press" -- Verso title page.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 180-185) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introductory chapter; title: Masterpieces in the making; title: The language of war; title: The hero and the crowd; title: The will and the conscious mind; title: Consequences and conclusions.