Book Of The Month February, 2009
War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy
War and Peace is one of the richest novels ever written. Tolstoy s enthralling epic combines history and fiction in his depiction of Russia s lengthy war with the French armies of Napoleon and its effects on the domestic lives of those caught up in the conflict. He creates some of the most vital and involving characters in literature as he follows the rise and fall of families in St Petersburg and Moscow who are linked by their personal and political relationships. His heroes are the thoughtful yet impulsive Pierre Bezukhov, his intelligentand ambitious friend, Prince Andrei, and the woman who becomes indispensable to both of them, the enchanting Natasha Rostova. Stunningly translated with remarkable fidelity to the all-important tone of Tolstoy s original, and including an introduction, notes, a chapter summary and an index of historical figures, this edition of War and Peace is destined to become the definitive English translation for our time.
What We Think
Martin Plimmer, author of King of the Castle, on War and Peace:
At 15 I discovered the Cineramascope passion of War and Peace. It was in a different sensory league to the horny-toed folk rabbit tale Lord of the Rings, which my mates were reading. Inspiration: Tolstoy didn’t write his first novel until he was an old man of 28 – so I could relax. When I wrote my first, at 49, I discovered he started four years earlier.