Volume 1
Part 1 011
Part 2, 219
Part 3, 387
Week 567
1805 War Map 575

Volume 2
Part 1 011
Part 2 109
Part 3 241
Part 4, 375
Part 5, 469
Week 597
1807 War Map 604

Volume 3
Part 1 011
Part 2 153
Part 3 401
Week 595
1812 Campaign Map 1 599

Volume 4
Part 1 011
Part 2 107
Part 3 187
Part 4, 267
Epilogue
Part 1 365
Part 2 463
State 529
1812 Campaign Map 2,533
A few words about War and Peace… Leo Tolstoy 535
Commentary | The epic novel "War and Peace" 549
Leo Tolstoy Chronology 587

13 years of planning and writing, 11 years of revision,
Tolstoy's masterpiece, a masterpiece of objective perception and vivid description.

War and Peace, which realistically weaves together war and human life with a long breath, was conceived when Tolstoy was conceiving a novel about the Decembrists, young officers who were executed or exiled for their anti-government revolution.
While collecting material for The Tale of the Decembrists in 1856, Tolstoy became interested in the Patriotic War of 1812, which led him back to the Napoleonic Wars of 1805.
The Decembrists were descendants of the generation that fought against the invasion of Napoleon in 1812.
After that, Tolstoy decided to deal with the Patriotic War, which is the most important event in Russian history, and in order to depict it realistically, he researched a vast amount of materials that could fill a library: historical works and memoirs, eyewitness accounts, papers and biographies of historical figures, Russian and French literature, conversations of those involved in the event, etc. He tried to establish a consistent concept for each event and person by featuring a large number of real people such as Napoleon, Alexander I, Kutuzov, and Rastoptin, and above all, he rejected the myth centered on Napoleon (the hero) and depicted the turbulent Russia as one large, organic picture from the perspective of the simple common people.

“Heroes cannot and should not exist; only humans should exist.”_Tolstoy

He conceived the work and began writing it in earnest in 1856, serializing it in the magazine “Russian News” under the title “1805” from 1865 until it was finally published as a book in 1869, a total of 13 years in total, and at this time the title “War and Peace” was confirmed.
Initially, it was six volumes, but during the revision stage, it became four volumes, and in 1880, eleven years after the completion of publication, War and Peace, which was already in its fifth edition, was finally completed after undergoing the last comprehensive revision during Tolstoy's lifetime, and all subsequent publications are based on this text.
The first half of the novel deals mainly with the lives of the nobles and battles abroad, while the second half mainly deals with battles and ideological issues at home. Volume 1 depicts the 1805 campaign and the Battle of Austerlitz, when an atmosphere of unrest was in the air under Napoleon's blatant invasion; Volume 2 covers the period from 1806 to the eve of the Patriotic War; and Volumes 3 and 4 depict the 1812 campaigns including the Battles of Schöngraben and Borodino, Napoleon's invasion of Moscow, the fire and destruction of Moscow, and the retreat of the French army, as well as the stories of the people, nobles, soldiers, officers, and emperors who were swept up in it.
Additionally, the epilogue following the main story delves into the new lives of the main characters from 1813 to 1820 and Tolstoy's authentic view of history.

A vast epic panorama that opens new horizons for modern fiction
A poem of praise dedicated to the people, the true embodiment of the Russian spirit!

Depending on one's perspective, "War and Peace" can be viewed as a historical novel, a war novel, a psychological novel, a novel of manners, a family novel about the rise and fall of five noble families, a coming-of-age novel depicting the growth and love of youth, or a romance novel. The final epilogue, in particular, could easily be considered a work of historical philosophy.
Because of its complex and special nature, which makes it difficult to define it as a single genre, Tolstoy did not agree to simply defining War and Peace as a novel.
The traditional novel format of dealing with a typical love story and encompassing all conflicts in the ending failed to answer the author's intention.
Tolstoy created a new, multifaceted, complex prose genre, which he called “the novelist’s poetry.”
He focused on vividly and closely linking the numerous characters and ever-changing events that crisscross the vast European continent, and this inevitable connection led to the book being evaluated as a record of Russian society and all its social classes, rather than just an individual record.
Russian literary critic Strakhov praised the work, saying, “Although numerous characters appear, no one is overshadowed, no scene overshadows the impression of another, and everything is independent yet harmoniously integrated into the whole.”


Among the fictional characters who breathe life into the story and connect the real history and people with harmony and context, there are four characters that Tolstoy particularly poured his heart and soul into creating.
Andrei, who despises the vulgarity of the aristocratic society and heads to the battlefield to become the Napoleon of Russia, but realizes the futility of life when he collapses from an injury; Pierre, disillusioned by his wife's infidelity and disappointed in Freemasonry, goes to the Battle of Borodino and realizes the solemnity and wonder of life among the people; Natasha, a beautiful maiden who is like the embodiment of life, and Maria, who pursues true spiritual peace with deep faith.
Unlike Andrei, who always lived asking the question, "Why?", who values ​​honor and purpose, Pierre, who is also a character representing Tolstoy, always asks the unchanging question, "How" to live, throughout the work.
After the war ended and he returned to life, he lived as a man of action who realized goodness, and that was the path to the moral perfection that Tolstoy had always longed for.


But above all, the character that Tolstoy portrays in this work as the embodiment of the true Russian spirit is the common people who conform to life and fate.
The honest and sincere dedication of the artillery, the peasant soldier Karataev with his simple wisdom of life, the nameless soldiers who ran through the fields, and the peasants who left or protected Moscow by burning it, each and every one of them.
Tolstoy viewed these people as true heroes, contrasting them with the arrogant conqueror Napoleon and the false aristocrats, and concluded the grand finale with his own philosophy that historical events are determined by the sum total of the wills of those who participated in them.
In this respect, the peace ('мир') in the title may be said to be 'human life' itself, possessing a will, rather than something that opposes war.


The grand epic poem "War and Peace" painted on the canvas of war is an outstanding achievement in the history of world literature that contains the thoughts and anguish of the intense youth of Tolstoy, who was "brave but stubborn, wild but childish" (Maxim Gorky), and wrote over 90 books over a long period of 82 years from 1828 to 1910. It is also a portrait of all humanity and all life.