Introduction

Set against Russia's wars with Napoleon from 1805 to 1812, this vast work follows the fortunes of four noble families, the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs and the Kuragins, with more than five hundred named characters, from the Tsar, Napoleon and Marshal Kutuzov to ordinary soldiers and peasants. Pierre, kind, clumsy and forever seeking the meaning of life; Prince Andrei, proud and melancholy, gazing up at the infinite sky on the field of Austerlitz; Natasha, innocent, lively and full of life: through war and peace they pass through love, death, disillusion and rebirth. Tolstoy also includes long reflections on the philosophy of history, arguing that history is made not by great men but by the combined wills of countless ordinary people. It is acknowledged as one of the greatest novels ever written. The work is translated in several volumes.