War and Peace [antikvár]

Introduction War and Peace is a vast epic centred on Napoleon Bonapartes invasion of Russia in 1812. It was conceived as an example of Tolstoy's view that history proceeds inexorably to its own ends with mankind appearing as an incidental instrument of the historical process. \i^ilst so tendentious an approach to the philosophy of history is difficult to accept today, as one of tJie themes of Tolstoy's greatest novel, it adds depth and perspective to a narrative that intersperses historical, social and personal interaction. There are over five hundred characters in the book, each one individually rendered, which book presents a complete tableau of Russian society from 1805 to 1820, encompassing Emperors and their Ministers and Generals, as well as countless officers, soldiers, nobles and peasants. The story opens in 1805 at a Soirée in Moscow, where all the talk is of the recent proclamation of Napoleon as Emperor. There then follows a long passage in which the three principal characters, the ardess and iimocent Natasha Rostov, the arrogant and cynical Prince Andrew Bolkonsky and the thoughtful Pierre Bezukov, the illegitimate son of Count Bezukov are introduced, together with a large group of their friends, relatives and dependents. These people are shown as they progress from youthful uncertainties towards a more mature view of life. No summary can do justice to the magnificent and complex interweaving of the protagonists' lives, with each other and with the web of history. Tolstoy succeeds in expounding his views of life by attributing to his characters the contrasting qualities which he felt were to be adopted or eschewed in order to reach a proper understanding of mankind's place in the world. Thus, Prince Andrew progresses from a world-weary cynicism to a calm acceptance of death while Pierre's turbulent career culminates in the simple wisdom that life should be accepted for what it is, and experienced emotionally rather than be twisted by imperfect intellects into artificial forms. Count Leo Tolstoy (Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoi, 1828-1910) was one of four sons of Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoi, a veteran of the 1812 Russian campaign against Napoleon. Tolstoy's mother died when he was two and his