Literature Companion: War and Peace

By History World

“War and Peace” by one of the most famous and respected Russian authors, Leo Tolstoy, was first published in 1869. It is an epic novel and often considered to be one of the most significant works of world literature.

Although most of the works of Leo Tolstoy are highly admired and most widely read throughout the world, in several languages, “War and Peace” is said to be his finest literary achievement.

This book includes introduction, description of characters, detailed summary of the novel, and critical analysis. Even if you have not read the whole original novel, this complete summary is sufficient to convey the entire novel to a reader.

Literature Companion: War and Peace
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Summary
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Book One
Book Two
Book Three
Book Four
Book Five
Book Six
Book Seven
Book Eight
Book Nine
Book Ten
Book Eleven
Book Twelve
Book Thirteen
Book Fourteen
Book Fifteen
First Epilogue
Second Epilogue
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: May 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311303288

Book preview

Literature Companion: War and Peace

History World

Copyright

Literature Companion: War and Peace

History World

Copyright@2014 History World

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved

Chapter One: Introduction

War and Peace by one of the most famous and respected Russian authors, Leo Tolstoy, was first published in 1869. It is an epic novel and often considered to be one of the most significant works of world literature.

Although most of the works of Leo Tolstoy are highly admired and most widely read throughout the world, in several languages, War and Peace is said to be his finest literary achievement.

Tolstoy’s other major prose work is Anna Karenina. Both of these books are essentially to be found in any library in almost all the countries of the world.

War and Peace has been translated into several languages and it has been adapted into several other art forms.

The story revolves around the period of the French invasion of Russia. It also shows the effect of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society in Russia. All this is presented through the perspectives of five Russian Aristocratic families.

The earlier version of War and Peace was titled The Year. It was published in 1805 in the magazine The Russian Messenger in the form of a serial between 1865 and 1867.

The complete novel was first published in 1869. The book made it to the top One Hundred Books in the list of Newsweek magazine in 2009. It was also included at number 20 in the list of BBC’s survey The Big Read.

Since the book is still in great demand, it has perhaps never gone out of print. In the words of Tolstoy himself, War and Peace is not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle.

The chapters towards the later part of the novel are given to philosophical discussion instead of narration.

Tolstoy admitted that like most of the other Russian novels which do not conform to standard norms War and Peace is also not a novel. According to Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina was his first true novel. However, in the world of literature, War and Peace is regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written.

Chapter Two: Plot Summary

The story opens in 1805. The opening scene is set in St. Petersburg, a Russian city. Napoleon has just begun his Western European conquest and its effect is clearly felt in Russia. There is an atmosphere of fear.

Most of the characters of the novel happen to be present at a society hostess’s party. The guests present include the following characters. Pierre Bezukhov is a socially odd person but he is likable although he is the illegitimate son of a rich count. Andrew Bolkonski is also a guest at the party. He is an intelligent and ambitious man. He is the son of a retired military commander. Then there are the members of the Kuragin family. They are sneaky and shallow in their behaviour. Vasili is the father in Kuragin family. He is a wily character. Anatole is his son. He is a fortune hunter. Vasili has a ravishing daughter named Helene.

Then there is the introduction of the Rostovs, a very noble Moscow family. Natasha is a lively daughter of the family. Then there is her quiet cousin Sonya. The son Nicholas is impetuous. He has just joined the army. The leader of the army is the old General Kutuzov.

Austrians and the Russian forces have a military alliance. These troops are mobilized. They are resisting the bloody invasion by Napoleon’s forces.

Nicholas and Andrew also go to the warfront. At the Battle of Austerlitz, Andrew is wounded. He survives though he has severe wounds. For a long time he is presumed to be dead.

Presuming that Andrew is dead, Pierre inherits his father’s fortune and marries Helene Kuragina. Helene is not faithful to Pierre. She is having an affair with another man. Pierre challenges her seducer to a duel. They have a duel in which Pierre nearly kills Helene’s lover.

Lise happens to be Andrew’s wife. She gives birth to a son just as Andrew comes back home to his estate. Seeing him alive all the family members are shocked. During the childbirth, Lise dies. The child is left in the custody of Mary, Andrew’s devout sister. She is supposed to raise the son.

Fed up with his wife’s love affair, Pierre is disillusioned by married life. He leaves his wife and involves himself in the spiritual practice of Freemasonry. He tries to use his learning to his estate management. He shares his teachings with his skeptical friend Andrew. It transpires that Andrew is working to help reform the Russian government.

The fortunes of the Rostovs begin to decline. It is partly because of Nicholas’s gambling debts. They decide to sell their beloved family estate ‘Otradnoe.’

Nicholas had earlier promised to marry Sonya, but now his fortune is declining. He is encouraged to marry a rich heiress. However, he continues to work in the army. He is the witness to the Great peace between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander.

Having grown up, Natasha goes to her first society ball. She falls in love with several men. She is eventually attached to Andrew. This is a serious relation from her side.

Andrew wants to marry Natasha but his father objects to this marriage. He tells Andrew to wait for one year before wedding Natasha. She does not want to but she has to accept the condition set by Andrew’s father.