Leo Tolstoys War & Peace" is a sprawling epic covering the impact of Napoleons disastrous invasion of Russia on five different families. This " Penguin Classics" edition is translated with an introduction & notes by Anthony Briggs with an afterword by Orlando Figes author of "A Peoples Tragedy: Russian Revolution 1891-1924". At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805 conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleons army marches on Russia & the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre cynical Andrey & impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast from aristocrats & peasants to soldiers & Napoleon himself. In " War & Peace" Tolstoy entwines grand themes
- conflict & love birth & death free will & faith
- with unforgettable scenes of nineteenth-century Russia to create a magnificent epic of human life in all its imperfection & grandeur. Anthony Briggs superb translation combines stirring accessible prose with fidelity to Tolstoys original while Orlando Figes afterword discusses the novels vast scope & depiction of Russian identity. This edition also contains appendices notes a list of prominent characters & maps. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was born at Yasnaya Polyana in central Russia. After marrying Sofya Behrs in 1862 Tolstoy settled down managing his estates & writing two of his best-known novels " War & Peace" (1869) & " Anna Karenina" (1878). In 1884 Tolstoy experienced a spiritual crisis becoming an extreme moralist rejecting the state the church & private property. His last novel " Resurrection" (1900) was written to raise money for the Doukhobor sect of Christian spiritualists. If you enjoyed " War & Peace" you might also like Fyodor Dostoyevskys " The Brothers Karamazov". "A masterpiece... This new translation is excellent". (Anthony Beevor). "A book that you dont just read you live". (Simon Schama)."