War and Peace

In 1805 Russia goes to war against Napoleon, and the salons of Petersburg discuss it in French. The novel follows Pierre Bezukhov, an awkward heir seeking meaning, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who joins the army to escape his life, and Natasha Rostov, whose childhood ends between two balls. From Moravia to the burning of Moscow, private lives are caught up in the armies. The book explores love, death, faith and how far individuals shape events. Tolstoy weaves family chronicle with reflection on history, refusing to let great men explain it.