War and Peace delineates in graphic detail events surrounding the French invasion of Russia, and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families.
The novel begins in the year 1805 during the reign of Tsar Alexander I and leads up to the 1812 French invasion of Russia by Napoleon. The era of Catherine the Great (1762–1796), when the royal court in Paris was the centre of western European civilization, is still fresh in the minds of older people. Catherine, fluent in French and wishing to reshape Russia into a great European nation, made French the language of her royal court. For the next one hundred years, it became a social requirement for members of the Russian nobility to speak French and understand French culture. This historical and cultural context in the aristocracy is reflected in War and Peace. Catherine's grandson, Alexander I, came to the throne in 1801 at the age of 24. In the novel, his mother, Marya Feodorovna, is the most powerful woman in the Russian court.
War and Peace tells the story of five aristocratic families — the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs, the Kuragins and the Drubetskoys—and the entanglements of their personal lives with the history of 1805–1813, principally Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. The Bezukhovs, while very rich, are a fragmented family as the old Count, Kirill Vladimirovich, has fathered dozens of illegitimate sons. The Bolkonskys are an old established and wealthy family based at Bald Hills. Old Prince Bolkonsky, Nikolai Andreevich, served as a general under Catherine the Great, in earlier wars. The Moscow Rostovs have many estates, but never enough cash. They are a closely knit, loving family who live for the moment regardless of their financial situation. The Kuragin family has three children, who are all of questionable character. The Drubetskoy family is of impoverished nobility, and consists of an elderly mother and her only son, Boris, whom she wishes to push up the career ladder.
War and Peace delineates in graphic detail events surrounding the French invasion of Russia, and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families.
The novel begins in the year 1805 during the reign of Tsar Alexander I and leads up to the 1812 French invasion of Russia by Napoleon. The era of Catherine the Great (1762–1796), when the royal court in Paris was the centre of western European civilization, is still fresh in the minds of older people. Catherine, fluent in French and wishing to reshape Russia into a great European nation, made French the language of her royal court. For the next one hundred years, it became a social requirement for members of the Russian nobility to speak French and understand French culture. This historical and cultural context in the aristocracy is reflected in War and Peace. Catherine's grandson, Alexander I, came to the throne in 1801 at the age of 24. In the novel, his mother, Marya Feodorovna, is the most powerful woman in the Russian court.
War and Peace tells the story of five aristocratic families — the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs, the Kuragins and the Drubetskoys—and the entanglements of their personal lives with the history of 1805–1813, principally Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. The Bezukhovs, while very rich, are a fragmented family as the old Count, Kirill Vladimirovich, has fathered dozens of illegitimate sons. The Bolkonskys are an old established and wealthy family based at Bald Hills. Old Prince Bolkonsky, Nikolai Andreevich, served as a general under Catherine the Great, in earlier wars. The Moscow Rostovs have many estates, but never enough cash. They are a closely knit, loving family who live for the moment regardless of their financial situation. The Kuragin family has three children, who are all of questionable character. The Drubetskoy family is of impoverished nobility, and consists of an elderly mother and her only son, Boris, whom she wishes to push up the career ladder.
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4 books in catalog
Realist fiction reached a defining height through sprawling historical panoramas and intimate psychological studies of nineteenth-century Russian society, most notably in the epic novel War and Peace. Russian author Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, known in the Anglosphere as Leo Tolstoy, crafted works that examined human consciousness, social structures, and moral responsibility across expansive narratives and concise novellas.
Born on September 9, 1828, at his family estate of Yasnaya Polyana south of Moscow, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was the son of Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy and Princess Marya Nikolaevna Volkonskaya. He began his literary career writing novels and short stories, producing his vast historical work War and Peace between 1865 and 1869. In 1873, he began Anna Karenina, a masterwork examining tragedy, marriage, and imperial Russian aristocratic life. During the 1870s, Tolstoy experienced a deep moral crisis and spiritual awakening that transformed his personal philosophy and literary trajectory.
In his later life, Tolstoy expanded his body of work to include plays, essays, and social philosophy alongside fiction. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centered on the Sermon on the Mount, led him to advocate for Christian anarchism and anarcho-pacifism. Through philosophical works such as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, he set forth principles of nonviolent resistance that profoundly influenced twentieth-century figures like Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Tolstoy continued publishing prominent fiction in his final decades, including The Death of Ivan Ilych and The Kreutzer Sonata, until his death on November 20, 1910.
Tolstoy is recognized for his masterly depiction of conscious mental life, acute psychological realism, and appreciation of everyday human experience. In contrast to authors focused primarily on irrational or subconscious impulses, Tolstoy captured the deliberate flow of thoughts, domestic choices, and moral dilemmas of his characters against the backdrop of broad historical events.
Across his novels and non-fiction, Tolstoy consistently explored themes of spiritual truth, personal morality, the critique of state and religious institutions, and the hypocrisy of high society. In his later writings, his style became increasingly didactic, blending realistic observation with a commitment to ethical reform and ascetic principles.
4 books in catalog
Realist fiction reached a defining height through sprawling historical panoramas and intimate psychological studies of nineteenth-century Russian society, most notably in the epic novel War and Peace. Russian author Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, known in the Anglosphere as Leo Tolstoy, crafted works that examined human consciousness, social structures, and moral responsibility across expansive narratives and concise novellas.
Born on September 9, 1828, at his family estate of Yasnaya Polyana south of Moscow, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was the son of Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy and Princess Marya Nikolaevna Volkonskaya. He began his literary career writing novels and short stories, producing his vast historical work War and Peace between 1865 and 1869. In 1873, he began Anna Karenina, a masterwork examining tragedy, marriage, and imperial Russian aristocratic life. During the 1870s, Tolstoy experienced a deep moral crisis and spiritual awakening that transformed his personal philosophy and literary trajectory.
In his later life, Tolstoy expanded his body of work to include plays, essays, and social philosophy alongside fiction. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centered on the Sermon on the Mount, led him to advocate for Christian anarchism and anarcho-pacifism. Through philosophical works such as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, he set forth principles of nonviolent resistance that profoundly influenced twentieth-century figures like Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Tolstoy continued publishing prominent fiction in his final decades, including The Death of Ivan Ilych and The Kreutzer Sonata, until his death on November 20, 1910.
Tolstoy is recognized for his masterly depiction of conscious mental life, acute psychological realism, and appreciation of everyday human experience. In contrast to authors focused primarily on irrational or subconscious impulses, Tolstoy captured the deliberate flow of thoughts, domestic choices, and moral dilemmas of his characters against the backdrop of broad historical events.
Across his novels and non-fiction, Tolstoy consistently explored themes of spiritual truth, personal morality, the critique of state and religious institutions, and the hypocrisy of high society. In his later writings, his style became increasingly didactic, blending realistic observation with a commitment to ethical reform and ascetic principles.
