War and Peace: 3 Volume Box Set

Leo Tolstoy

English translation
Original Language: Russian

Epic historical novel by Leo Tolstoy, originally published as Voyna i mir in 1865–69. This panoramic study of early 19th–century Russian society, noted for its mastery of realistic detail and variety of psychological analysis, is generally regarded as one of the world's greatest novels. War and Peace is primarily concerned with the histories of five aristocratic families—particularly the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Rostovs—the members of which are portrayed against a vivid background of Russian social life during Napoleon's invasion (1805–14). The theme of war, however, is subordinate to the story of family existence, which involves Tolstoy's optimistic belief in the life–asserting pattern of human existence. The heroine, Natasha Rostova, for example, reaches her greatest fulfillment through her marriage to Pierre Bezukhov and her motherhood. The novel also sets forth a theory of history, concluding that there is a minimum of free choice; all is ruled by an inexorable historical determinism. From The Merriam–Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

"There remains the greatest of all novelists—for what else can we call the author of War and Peace?"
—Virginia Woolf, From the Audio Cassette edition.

About the Author
A. N. Wilson is an award–winning novelist, biographer, and journalist, and the author of GodÕs Funeral and the biographies C. S. Lewis, Paul, and Jesus. He lives in London. From the Trade Paperback edition.