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War And Peace: The Original Unabridged and Complete Edition
"War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy is an epic novel set during the Napoleonic wars in Russia. It follows various characters whose lives are shaped by the tumultuous period. Tolstoy explores the profound connection between war and peace, blending personal stories with historical events and offering insights into human nature and the futility of conflict.
Tolstoy's masterpiece, "War and Peace," examines the complex nature of war and its impact on individuals and society. It vividly portrays the chaos and heroism of battle while delving into the challenges of rebuilding and the quest for lasting peace. Through its diverse characters, the novel invites readers to contemplate the cyclical nature of conflict and the elusive nature of true peace.
"War and Peace" by Tolstoy remains a timeless exploration of the human condition amidst war and the longing for peace. It delves into the intricacies of war, the fragility of peace, and the depth of the human experience. With its sprawling narrative and rich character development, the novel highlights the eternal struggle between war and peace on personal and societal levels.
Tolstoy's masterpiece, "War and Peace," examines the complex nature of war and its impact on individuals and society. It vividly portrays the chaos and heroism of battle while delving into the challenges of rebuilding and the quest for lasting peace. Through its diverse characters, the novel invites readers to contemplate the cyclical nature of conflict and the elusive nature of true peace.
"War and Peace" by Tolstoy remains a timeless exploration of the human condition amidst war and the longing for peace. It delves into the intricacies of war, the fragility of peace, and the depth of the human experience. With its sprawling narrative and rich character development, the novel highlights the eternal struggle between war and peace on personal and societal levels.
1943 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2023
55 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Leo Tolstoy
7,983 books28.6k followersLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; most appropriately used Liev Tolstoy; commonly Leo Tolstoy in Anglophone countries) was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many consider Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer.
His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 6, 2024
3.25 ⭐️
TLDR: great writing style, vivid characters, but the war/philosophical parts were too tedious. if you like russian classics, give it a shot. if you and classics don’t go together at all, skip it. if you like classics but you don’t feel like reading this behemoth of a book & still want to try tolstoy, read “anna karenina.”
first, some disclaimers: 1) i read this with two different formats. i read it mostly on my kindle because that was extremely convenient for me personally. on days that i needed to mix things up a bit because of boredom (sorry, guys), i switched to the audiobook narrated by thandiwe newton--which was FANTASTIC. 2) this is not my first russian classic, so don’t insult my intelligence just because i didn’t give this a higher rating. 3) i was determined to finish this, and i knew that if i didn’t finish this in under 2 months, i would dnf and never attempt it ever again. 4) this is not my first book from tolstoy. i read (and loved) “anna karenina” at 18 years old. 5) i don’t like big books. 6) i don’t care for war stories whatsoever. 6) i impulsively started this at night when i couldn’t sleep, thinking that it would help me to actually fall asleep. ironically, it immediately caught my attention and i ended up staying up all night.
there are four major volumes in this book, with a TON of chapters/books. volumes 1 and 2 are by far the best--no one can change my mind. unfortunately, the quality of volumes 3 and 4 go down significantly. oddly enough, the chapters are pretty short. they fly by very quickly.
volumes 1 and 2 surprised me so much. they were full of drama and interesting politics. i was so impressed by tolstoy’s abilities to fully flesh out each character. everyone was so dynamic and real. even characters that i didn’t like (helene and anatole) felt extremely real. like actual people in real life, the characters had different expressions of traits/personalities that came to the surface around different characters. for example, prince andrew was an awful & dismissive husband to princess lise, and was a supportive friend to pierre.
the way that tolstoy wrote in general was amazing. you could immediately tell that he was fond of his characters. he made them his own. he was able to convey the very essence of them in such a way that made them real. he breathed life into them. and his fondness toward his characters made ME feel fond toward them, including ones that i despised. even when certain dislikable characters died, i still felt sorry about their deaths. and i felt like that due to tolstoy’s writing styles. i haven’t read a book by any author where i felt sad when a despicable/annoying character died. i was like “yay, good riddance.”
this was a lot funnier than i thought it would be. there was a scene when anatole and pierre let a bear (???) loose in the city, and it made me SCREAM. idk why, but it radiated florida man energy. and there was a character who challenged a man to a duel (even though he never wielded a gun in his LIFE). i was screaming so much.
so obviously, there are a million characters, but most of them aren’t important. volume 1 contained so many people, it was hard to keep track. but then, the number of characters drastically dwindles down in volume 2. so there’s no need to feel intimidated or scared. the most important characters (i think) to remember are: the rostov family, pierre, and the bolkonski family. i know some classics bro is going to chop my head off for that, but i don’t care. that’s the truth.
the best part of this book is “peace,” which is funny because the war part makes up a HUGE chunk of the book. i just think that tolstoy’s writing style shone more in the peace bits. the interpersonal relationships were more interesting and developed. his description of the family dynamics and society life were fantastic. i could imagine myself being there. it made me want to read more of his other books.
i will say, though, that my attention began to wane around volume 3. and i mentally checked out towards the end of volume 4 (like part two of the epilogue). the characters (like natasha, princess mary, nicholas, and pierre) weren’t acting like themselves anymore. i didn’t recognize them. and the fallout of the war was just too detailed and monotonous, that it just lost its meaning.
all in all, i thought it was a good book. but i personally wouldn’t read this again. i enjoyed parts of it, and loathed some parts as well.
TLDR: great writing style, vivid characters, but the war/philosophical parts were too tedious. if you like russian classics, give it a shot. if you and classics don’t go together at all, skip it. if you like classics but you don’t feel like reading this behemoth of a book & still want to try tolstoy, read “anna karenina.”
first, some disclaimers: 1) i read this with two different formats. i read it mostly on my kindle because that was extremely convenient for me personally. on days that i needed to mix things up a bit because of boredom (sorry, guys), i switched to the audiobook narrated by thandiwe newton--which was FANTASTIC. 2) this is not my first russian classic, so don’t insult my intelligence just because i didn’t give this a higher rating. 3) i was determined to finish this, and i knew that if i didn’t finish this in under 2 months, i would dnf and never attempt it ever again. 4) this is not my first book from tolstoy. i read (and loved) “anna karenina” at 18 years old. 5) i don’t like big books. 6) i don’t care for war stories whatsoever. 6) i impulsively started this at night when i couldn’t sleep, thinking that it would help me to actually fall asleep. ironically, it immediately caught my attention and i ended up staying up all night.
there are four major volumes in this book, with a TON of chapters/books. volumes 1 and 2 are by far the best--no one can change my mind. unfortunately, the quality of volumes 3 and 4 go down significantly. oddly enough, the chapters are pretty short. they fly by very quickly.
volumes 1 and 2 surprised me so much. they were full of drama and interesting politics. i was so impressed by tolstoy’s abilities to fully flesh out each character. everyone was so dynamic and real. even characters that i didn’t like (helene and anatole) felt extremely real. like actual people in real life, the characters had different expressions of traits/personalities that came to the surface around different characters. for example, prince andrew was an awful & dismissive husband to princess lise, and was a supportive friend to pierre.
the way that tolstoy wrote in general was amazing. you could immediately tell that he was fond of his characters. he made them his own. he was able to convey the very essence of them in such a way that made them real. he breathed life into them. and his fondness toward his characters made ME feel fond toward them, including ones that i despised. even when certain dislikable characters died, i still felt sorry about their deaths. and i felt like that due to tolstoy’s writing styles. i haven’t read a book by any author where i felt sad when a despicable/annoying character died. i was like “yay, good riddance.”
this was a lot funnier than i thought it would be. there was a scene when anatole and pierre let a bear (???) loose in the city, and it made me SCREAM. idk why, but it radiated florida man energy. and there was a character who challenged a man to a duel (even though he never wielded a gun in his LIFE). i was screaming so much.
so obviously, there are a million characters, but most of them aren’t important. volume 1 contained so many people, it was hard to keep track. but then, the number of characters drastically dwindles down in volume 2. so there’s no need to feel intimidated or scared. the most important characters (i think) to remember are: the rostov family, pierre, and the bolkonski family. i know some classics bro is going to chop my head off for that, but i don’t care. that’s the truth.
the best part of this book is “peace,” which is funny because the war part makes up a HUGE chunk of the book. i just think that tolstoy’s writing style shone more in the peace bits. the interpersonal relationships were more interesting and developed. his description of the family dynamics and society life were fantastic. i could imagine myself being there. it made me want to read more of his other books.
i will say, though, that my attention began to wane around volume 3. and i mentally checked out towards the end of volume 4 (like part two of the epilogue). the characters (like natasha, princess mary, nicholas, and pierre) weren’t acting like themselves anymore. i didn’t recognize them. and the fallout of the war was just too detailed and monotonous, that it just lost its meaning.
all in all, i thought it was a good book. but i personally wouldn’t read this again. i enjoyed parts of it, and loathed some parts as well.
December 27, 2025
Overall, I’m glad I read it. But for me this was only ok, and although it’s certainly an amazing feat of writing at 1300 pages, my enjoyment of it was below average. As a non English student/teacher, I suppose my appreciation of it did not contribute enough to my enjoyment, and I didn’t like how it ended. However, I do want to thank it for teaching me about Napoleon and related history (this part of history was lacking in my education).
March 25, 2024
I see why this is considered one of the greatest novels of all time. Full of relatable stories of life in both war… and peace… Great themes and characters. Not too many analytical digressions. It’s timeless and there’s something for everyone in here: love stories, all kinds of social dynamics, politics, and action in war.
It is a long one- I picked it up and put it down a lot between other books. Didn’t move me quite as much as Les Mis, but it was close.
This is a read-again for sure.
It is a long one- I picked it up and put it down a lot between other books. Didn’t move me quite as much as Les Mis, but it was close.
This is a read-again for sure.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews