War & Peace - Part 1

Written by Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by Edward Petherbridge

Tolstoy's epic novel, War and Peace, deals with some of the most momentous events of 19th-century Europe, reaching a climax in the French invasion of Russia. However, although war and rumours of it cast a shadow over all the characters' lives, the chief concern of the author was the private emotions and actions of the Russian nobility. In the early part of the story, Pierre Bezuhov, the self-tormenting hero, searches for a meaning to life but finds it empty, whilst for Natasha Rostov, life and love hold endless promise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Copyright Group
• Release date: Jan 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781780003818

Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 in Tula, near Moscow. His parents, who both died when he was young, belonged to the Russian nobility, and to the end of his life Tolstoy remained conscious of his aristocratic status. His novels, ‘War and Peace’ and ‘Anna Karenina’ are literary classics and he is revered as one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century. He died in 1910 at the age of 82.