Description

This beautiful Penguin Classics clothbound edition of Tolstoy s great novel is translated with an introduction and notes by Anthony Briggs, and with an afterword by Orlando Figes. At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon s army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants to soldiers and Napoleon himself. In War and Peace, Tolstoy entwines grand themes – conflict and love, birth and death, free will and faith – with unforgettable scenes of nineteenth-century Russia, to create a magnificent epic of human life in all its imperfection and grandeur. Anthony Briggs superb translation combines stirring, accessible prose with fidelity to Tolstoy s original, while Orlando Figes afterword discusses the novel s vast scope and depiction of Russian identity. This edition also contains appendices, notes, a list of prominent characters and maps.