War and Peace (Vintage Classics)

by Leo Tolstoy

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Book Overview: War and Peace (Vintage Classics)

From the award-winning translators of Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov comes this magnificent new translation of Tolstoy’s masterwork.

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.

A s Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds–peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers–as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving–and human–figures in world literature.

ISBN-13	9781400079988
ISBN-10	1400079985
Publisher	Vintage
Publication Date	2008
Edition	Vintage Classics ed.
Language	en
Pages	1296
Dimensions	in x in x in
Weight	lbs

Editorial Reviews

“Shimmering. . . . [It] offers an opportunity to see this great classic afresh, to approach it not as a monument but rather as a deeply touching story about our contradictory human hearts.”
–Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World

“A major new translation . . . [which] brings us the palpability [of Tolstoy’s characters] as perhaps never before. . . . Pevear and Volokhonsky’s new translation gives us new access to the spirit and order of the book.”
–James Wood, The New Yorker

“Excellent. . . . An extraordinary achievement. . . . Wonderfully fresh and readable. . . . The English-speaking world is indebted to these two magnificent translators for revealing more of its hidden riches than any who have tried to translated the book before.”
–Orlando Figes, The New York Review of Books

“Tolstoy’s War and Peace has often been put in a league with Homer’s epic poems; it seems to me that the same might be said for Pevear and Volokhonsky’s translation of his great novel. . . . Their efforts convey a much closer equivalent in English to the experience of reading the original.”
–Michael Katz, New England Review

About the Author

Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy, born on September 9, 1828, was a colossal figure in literature and one of the greatest novelists in history. Hailing from an aristocratic Russian family, Tolstoy’s influence extended beyond his homeland, penetrating the global literary scene with his profound realism and philosophical insights. His early education, enriched with extensive travels across Europe, and experiences in the Crimean War, significantly influenced his literary carvings.

Tolstoy’s masterpieces, “War and Peace” (1869) and “Anna Karenina” (1877), are pinnacles of realist fiction that effortlessly intertwine storylines dealing with politics, society, family, and personal growth. His genius did not contain itself to full-length novels but also flowed through numerous short stories and novellas like “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” and “Hadji Murat” manifesting his philosophical and moral quests.

In his later years, Tolstoy transitioned from literary maestro to spiritual philosopher, becoming an outspoken critic of institutionalized religion and a proponent of nonviolent resistance, impacting figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. He left behind a myriad of enlightening essays touching upon anarchism, pacifism and nonviolent resistance. Leo Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910, leaving an indelible mark on the literary world as well as society’s perception of morality and peace.