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 forever. 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, Tolstoy entwines grand themes – conflict and love, birth and death, free will and faith – with unforgettable scenes of nineteenth-century Russia, to create a magnificent epic of human life in all its imperfection and grandeur. Translated with an introduction and notes by Anthony Briggs, and with an afterword by Orlando Figes.
Moments of Truth
In a celebrated passage in Tolstoy’s War and Peace, a girl is dancing – a young girl not yet out of her teens. She is an aristocrat, a countess from St Petersburg, and she is visiting the village...
Read more
