war and peace tolstoy essay

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War and Peace

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Voyna i mir (1865–69; War and Peace ) contains three kinds of material—a historical account of the Napoleonic wars, the biographies of fictional characters, and a set of essays about the philosophy of history . Critics from the 1860s to the present have wondered how these three parts cohere, and many have faulted Tolstoy for including the lengthy essays, but readers continue to respond to them with undiminished enthusiasm.

The work’s historical portions narrate the campaign of 1805 leading to Napoleon ’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz , a period of peace, and Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. Contrary to generally accepted views, Tolstoy portrays Napoleon as an ineffective, egomaniacal buffoon , Tsar Alexander I as a phrasemaker obsessed with how historians will describe him, and the Russian general Mikhail Kutuzov (previously disparaged) as a patient old man who understands the limitations of human will and planning. Particularly noteworthy are the novel’s battle scenes, which show combat as sheer chaos . Generals may imagine they can “anticipate all contingencies,” but battle is really the result of “a hundred million diverse chances” decided on the moment by unforeseeable circumstances. In war as in life, no system or model can come close to accounting for the infinite complexity of human behaviour .

Among the book’s fictional characters, the reader’s attention is first focused on Prince Andrey Bolkonsky , a proud man who has come to despise everything fake, shallow, or merely conventional. Recognizing the artifice of high society, he joins the army to achieve glory, which he regards as truly meaningful. Badly wounded at Austerlitz, he comes to see glory and Napoleon as no less petty than the salons of St. Petersburg . As the novel progresses, Prince Andrey repeatedly discovers the emptiness of the activities to which he has devoted himself. Tolstoy’s description of his death in 1812 is usually regarded as one of the most-effective scenes in Russian literature .

The novel’s other hero, the bumbling and sincere Pierre Bezukhov , oscillates between belief in some philosophical system promising to resolve all questions and a relativism so total as to leave him in apathetic despair. He at last discovers the Tolstoyan truth that wisdom is to be found not in systems but in the ordinary processes of daily life, especially in his marriage to the novel’s most-memorable heroine, Natasha. When the book stops—it does not really end but just breaks off—Pierre seems to be forgetting this lesson in his enthusiasm for a new utopian plan.

In accord with Tolstoy’s idea that prosaic, everyday activities make a life good or bad, the book’s truly wise characters are not its intellectuals but a simple, decent soldier, Natasha’s brother Nikolay, and a generous pious woman, Andrey’s sister Marya. Their marriage symbolizes the novel’s central prosaic values.

The essays in War and Peace , which begin in the second half of the book, satirize all attempts to formulate general laws of history and reject the ill-considered assumptions supporting all historical narratives. In Tolstoy’s view, history, like battle, is essentially the product of contingency , has no direction, and fits no pattern. The causes of historical events are infinitely varied and forever unknowable, and so historical writing, which claims to explain the past, necessarily falsifies it. The shape of historical narratives reflects not the actual course of events but the essentially literary criteria established by earlier historical narratives.

According to Tolstoy’s essays, historians also make a number of other closely connected errors. They presume that history is shaped by the plans and ideas of great men—whether generals or political leaders or intellectuals like themselves—and that its direction is determined at dramatic moments leading to major decisions. In fact, however, history is made by the sum total of an infinite number of small decisions taken by ordinary people, whose actions are too unremarkable to be documented. As Tolstoy explains, to presume that grand events make history is like concluding from a view of a distant region where only treetops are visible that the region contains nothing but trees. Therefore Tolstoy’s novel gives its readers countless examples of small incidents that each exert a tiny influence—which is one reason that War and Peace is so long. Tolstoy’s belief in the efficacy of the ordinary and the futility of system-building set him in opposition to the thinkers of his day. It remains one of the most-controversial aspects of his philosophy.

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War and Peace

Leo tolstoy.

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In July, 1805, Anna Pavlovna Scherer throws a Petersburg soirée where several members of the nobility—including the Kuragin family, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky , and awkward newcomer Pierre Bezukhov —debate Russia’s looming war with Napoleonic France. Prince Andrei has enlisted in the army because he’s unhappy with married life. Pierre, meanwhile, can’t decide what to do with his life. When Pierre’s wealthy father, Count Bezukhov , is on his deathbed, Prince Vassily Kuragin plots to wrest the Count’s fortune from Pierre. Though Pierre gets the inheritance, he’s listless in the struggle and indifferent to his sudden change in social status. Meanwhile, in Moscow, young Nikolai Rostov prepares to join the army as a hussar cadet.

Before heading off to war, Prince Andrei visits his father Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky ’s estate of Bald Hills, leaving his pregnant wife Princess Liza there and saying goodbye to his beloved sister, Princess Marya . Princess Marya urges Andrei to show sympathy to his lonely wife and to have faith in God, but Andrei warns Marya that their harsh father mistreats her.

In October, Prince Andrei is with General Kutuzov ’s army in Austria, while Nikolai Rostov is stationed with a hussar regiment; both men see battle for the first time. The first major engagement occurs at Schöngraben where, facing chaos in the field and superiors’ indifference, both Andrei and Nikolai become somewhat disillusioned about the thrill and honor of warfare. At the battle of Austerlitz, despite General Kutuzov’s warnings, the Russians make an ill-advised attack and instead are routed by Napoleon . Prince Andrei briefly rallies the scattered Russians, then he gets wounded and realizes the insignificance of Napoleon and the war as he lies contemplating the infinite sky .

Back in Russia, Prince Vassily manipulates newly wealthy Pierre into marrying his beautiful but debauched daughter Hélène Kuragin . In the winter of 1805–1806, during a pause in the war, Pierre duels with a coldhearted soldier named Dolokhov over Dolokhov’s rumored affair with Hélène. Though Pierre unexpectedly wins the duel, he separates from Hélène in anger. Meanwhile, at Bald Hills, Princess Liza dies in childbirth just as Prince Andrei—believed to have died at Austerlitz—unexpectedly arrives home. Nikolai returns to his regiment in 1806 after incurring massive gambling debts to Dolokhov, who hoped to marry Sonya Rostov and resents her love for her cousin Nikolai.

After his falling out with Hélène, Pierre leaves Moscow. On the way, he meets an old man named Bazdeev , who convinces Pierre to believe in God and seek self-improvement through Masonic mystical practices. After initiation, Pierre tries to live out his new beliefs by liberating his peasants, but he totally lacks the practical wisdom to follow through. In contrast to Pierre’s idealism, his close friend Prince Andrei emerges from the war and his wife ’ s death thoroughly disillusioned and determined to live only for himself.

Meanwhile, Napoleon has invaded Prussia, and the Russian army is fighting the French in Poland. In 1807, after witnessing horrible conditions in a field hospital, Nikolai Rostov sees Napoleon and Emperor Alexander signing peace treaties at Tilsit and feels disillusioned by the stark contrast between soldiers ’ sufferings and imperial pomp.

In 1809, Prince Andrei visits the Rostovs ’ country estate, Otradnoe, where he meets Nikolai’s enchanting sister Natasha for the first time, finding renewed hope in life. He moves to Petersburg and takes a government position, revising Russia ’ s civil code. The Rostovs also move to Petersburg, and after dancing with Natasha at a ball, Prince Andrei proposes. Prince Nikolai, disapproving, sends his son abroad for a year. Andrei promises Natasha that if her feelings change while he ’ s gone, he ’ ll release her from the engagement. Meanwhile, despite disillusionment with Freemasonry, Pierre rededicates himself to his own marriage.

In 1810, Nikolai Rostov reluctantly leaves his regiment and returns to Otradnoe to help settle his father ’ s messy finances. At Christmas, Nikolai and his cousin Sonya ’ s romance rekindles, but Countess Rostov angrily objects because Sonya is poor. That winter Count Rostov and the girls visit Moscow. During a night at the opera, Natasha falls for Anatole Kuragin and agrees to elope with him (unaware that he ’ s secretly married to someone else). After their plan is foiled at the last minute, Natasha, sick with despair over her betrayal of Prince Andrei, confides in Pierre, who admits that he loves her.

In June, 1812, Napoleon’s army invades Russia. Prince Andrei rejoins the army and hopes at first to find a pretext for a duel with Anatole, but he soon falls comfortably into the day-to-day rhythms of military life. He refuses the opportunity to serve at headquarters because he believes the best, bravest men are found in the ranks. In the battle of Ostrovna, Nikolai Rostov takes a French captive and gets promoted for his courage, yet he feels conflicted about his supposed “heroism.”

Through the summer, Moscow is filled with anxious rumors about French invasion. In a passion, young Petya Rostov enlists in the army, and Pierre, living idly in Moscow, longs to contribute more than his wealth to the war effort. When the French burn Smolensk, Prince Andrei’s feelings about the war turn fiercely personal. At Bald Hills, Prince Nikolai is slow to respond to the threat of invasion, though the French are just 40 miles away. After deciding to personally lead the village militia, he suffers a stroke and later dies on the Bolkonskys’ Bogucharovo estate. Later, when mutinous peasants interfere with Princess Marya’s evacuation, Nikolai Rostov, whose hussars happen to be nearby, comes to her rescue. Nikolai and Marya feel a mutual attraction. Meanwhile, Pierre abruptly leaves Moscow for the front lines at Borodino.

The night before the battle of Borodino, Pierre and Prince Andrei talk for the last time. The next day, Pierre observes the brutal fighting from the Raevsky redoubt. On a different part of the battlefield, Andrei is severely injured by an exploding shell. When he returns to consciousness in the field hospital, Andrei sees Anatole Kuragin being treated for a leg amputation and feels nothing but compassion for his enemy. The outcome of the battle is murky. Both armies are devastated, and Kutuzov insists Russia has won, but the French have enough momentum to push onward to Moscow, forcing a Russian retreat. Still, the French are demoralized for the first time, while the Russians take heart.

Moscow is in disarray, as wounded veterans are brought in and citizens flee the city on overladen carts. When the Rostovs evacuate, many soldiers catch rides in their caravan. Unbeknownst to Natasha, one of them is Andrei Bolkonsky. By the time Napoleon arrives on the outskirts of the city, eager to possess and civilize Moscow, almost nobody is left.

Meanwhile, Pierre, back from Borodino, remains behind, convinced it’s his calling to kill Napoleon. However, as Moscow burns, he gets arrested for defending a woman from French looters. Two days’ distance away, Natasha has found out that Prince Andrei is among their party. In the middle of the night, she sneaks to his bedside, and they share a tearful reunion.

During Borodino, Nikolai Rostov is in Voronezh, getting horses for his division. While there, someone tries to match him with Princess Marya, who’s staying with an aunt nearby. Though the two feel a natural understanding, Nikolai is torn because of his past vow to Sonya. Around the same time, Sonya writes to Nikolai, self-sacrificially releasing him from their promise.

While in French custody, Pierre narrowly avoids execution. Just as he’s feeling totally broken by this experience, he meets a fellow prisoner, a gentle peasant named Platon Karataev , whose wisdom and joy restore Pierre’s will to live.

When Princess Marya learns Prince Andrei’s whereabouts, she hurries to join the Rostovs; Natasha has been caring for Andrei night and day. Marya finds her brother strangely detached, his mind already fixed on the afterlife. Andrei no longer fears death, and having forgiven Natasha, he spends his last days contemplating eternal love.

Following the battle of Tarutino, the French army begins to panic and retreat. Meanwhile, Pierre finds peace and contentment in prison and on the march. Platon is shot for straggling the day before Denisov ’s partisan fighters free the prisoners. During the same battle that frees Pierre, Petya Rostov acts recklessly and gets fatally shot. In caring for her grieving mother, Natasha, who’s been despondent since Andrei’s death, finds renewed life.

Pierre returns to Moscow in January, 1813, and when he confides his experiences in the newly mature Natasha, she responds with sensitivity and compassion. Their love becomes mutual, and they marry (Hélène having died the previous year). After Count Rostov dies, Nikolai moves back to Moscow to work off his father’s extensive debts. In 1814, he and Princess Marya get married, and by 1820, he’s become a successful farmer devoted to peasant reforms. That year, Pierre, Natasha, and their four children visit Bald Hills. Both families are happy. Pierre debates politics with Nikolai, who resists his ideas about government reform, and inspires nephew Nikolenka Bolkonsky , now 15, to follow him in hopes of pleasing his late father Andrei.

Tolstoy concludes by reflecting that although human beings feel that they act freely, history cannot study this freedom; its task is to examine laws that, like the earth’s movement, cannot be felt. In the novel, Tolstoy has sought to focus on this law of predetermination, as well as the psychological law by which unfree people convince themselves they are free. In reality, freedom is the unknowable “remainder of what we know about the laws of human life.”

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War and Peace

By leo tolstoy, war and peace summary and analysis of epilogue.

Tolstoy pauses for a long, essayistic critique of the ‘great men’ theory of history, which says that great individuals (usually rulers) determine the course of history. Tolstoy argues that broader circumstances, caused by infinite minute decisions, are actually responsible for major historical events. He tells Napoleon ’s life story and explains how its events were driven not by Napoleon, but by external circumstances.

Count Rostov dies. Nikolai inherits the estate, along with a mountain of debts. He is poor for a few years, and tries to support his mother on a soldier’s salary. Natasha marries Pierre and becomes an extremely dedicated wife and mother. Nikolai resolves his debts through a combination of hard work and marriage to Princess Marya. He becomes a very successful farmer because he cares about his peasants’ needs. Sonya lives with Nikolai and Princess Marya, and works as a kind of servant. Marya and Nikolai’s children often become sources of discord between the married couple. Pierre remains active in the Freemasons.

Tolstoy discusses the relationship between the life of a nation and the lives of individuals. He explores the question of whether people have free will if, as he argues, history is predestined. He argues that God resolves the tension between freedom and historical necessity. Individual freedom is the ultimate force that drives human history. They’re not at odds, Tolstoy says; necessity follows from freedom.

Tolstoy’s epilogue to War and Peace is notorious for its subversion of what an epilogue normally does. Instead of providing closure to the main story, this epilogue continues the main story but raises new questions rather than simply resolving old ones. When Pierre goes to Moscow on Freemason business, Tolstoy elliptically refers to the upheavals that would take place in that organization in the nineteenth century. However, he leaves the reader to guess how this might affect his characters.

In the epilogue, which takes place in 1820 (eight years after the end of Volume IV), Tolstoy offers us glimpses into two marriages – those of Natasha and Pierre, and of Nikolai and Marya. The tension in Nikolai and Marya’s relationship evokes the many small tragedies that led to it in the first place: Marya’s imprisonment by the violent muzhiks, Nikolai’s cold rejection of Sonya, Prince Andrei’s deathbed advice to his sister. In contrast, Pierre and Natasha have no such baggage. Although their marriage may come as a surprise, it is built on platonic friendship and self-sacrifice. This leads the novel’s two main characters to a loving and tranquil relationship based around a recognition of life's simplicity.

Tolstoy’s sophisticated essays in this section are some of the most challenging parts of the novel, and some translations even omit them. However, they help tie the novel’s many subplots together. War and Peace ’s many vignettes of military and home life all illustrate the relationship between individual free will and historical predestination (or, as Tolstoy calls it, ‘necessity’).

According to Tolstoy, no individual can change the course of history. Since history is determined by so many minute decisions by so many people, no single person – however powerful – can bend history to his or her will. This worldview is radically democratic, and it explains the parity in the story between real historical figures like Napoleon and Kutuzov, and insignificant fictional characters like Sonya and Pyotr Rostov . If anything, the real historical characters in War and Peace lack the emotional power of the fictional ones.

However, history also affects individual lives. In some ways, this novel can be read as a treatise on the devastating toll that national conflict takes on individual people. Every character either dies or suffers a major loss in their family, and many of these tragedies are directly or indirectly caused by war. War also elevates those who sometimes do not deserve it; consider Dolokhov ’s status as a war hero, or Boris Drubetskoy ’s astonishing ascent into high society. The novel ends with these philosophical thoughts, which implicitly makes Tolstoy's point that what is in our power as individuals are the choices we make, and our willingness to accept the simplicity of faith. We can make others happy and attempt to make ourselves happy, we can continue to ask questions about morality rather than acting selfishly, and we can enjoy life, thankful for when it is good.

War and Peace Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for War and Peace is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

With which statement would the author most likely agree 

I'm sorry, "with which statement" implies this is a multiple choice question. Please provide all necessary information in your posts.

how did rostov distinguish himself in his first real battle.

D:he led a calavry charge down a hill and caputred a french captain.

Why does Prince Andrew's father insist his son goes abroad for a year.

Prince Andrew wishes to marry, and his does not approve. He tells his son to wait a year and go abroad, hoping that the time away, in addition to the experiences, will change his mind about rushing into marriage.

Study Guide for War and Peace

War and Peace study guide contains a biography of Leo Tolstoy, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About War and Peace
• War and Peace Summary
• Character List

Essays for War and Peace

War and Peace essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

• Pierre's Abortive Mission
• Self-Begotten Fantasy in Gatsby and War and Peace: Satiating the Spiritual Void
• Liza's Significance in War and Peace
• The Question of Suicide in War and Peace and Anna Karenina
• The Tolstoyan Ideal of Divine Love: Platon and Natasha Examined

Lesson Plan for War and Peace

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to War and Peace
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• War and Peace Bibliography

E-Text of War and Peace

War and Peace e-text contains the full text of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

• Book I, Chapters 1-5
• Book I, Chapters 6-10
• Book I, Chapters 11-15
• Book I, Chapters 16-20
• Book I, Chapters 21-25

Wikipedia Entries for War and Peace

• Introduction

War and Peace

89 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 1, Part 1

Book 1, Part 2

Book 1, Part 3

Book 2, Part 1

Book 2, Part 2

Book 2, Part 3

Book 2, Part 4

Book 2, Part 5

Book 3, Part 1

Book 3, Part 2

Book 3, Part 3

Book 4, Part 1

Book 4, Part 2

Book 4, Part 3

Book 4, Part 4

Epilogue, Part 1

Epilogue, Part 2

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

War and Peace is a Russian historical fiction novel written by Leo Tolstoy, published in 1865-1869. The story charts the alliances and wars between Russia and France at the beginning of the 19th century, following the lives of characters swept along by historical events. War and Peace is heralded as one of the most important novels in Russian and world literature and has been adapted into films, television shows, and more.

Multiply nominated for both the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Literature Prize, Tolstoy is considered one of the fathers of Russian literature and widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time. This guide uses the translation by Louise and Aylmer Maude, revised and edited by Amy Mandelker.

Plot Summary

In Saint Petersburg in 1805, rich people talk about Napoleon’s war in Western Europe. Many of the characters gather at a dinner party, including Pierre Bezukhov , the illegitimate son of a very wealthy man. Despite his awkward demeanor, he is intelligent and likable. Andrei Bolkonsky , an ambitious, clever young aristocrat, is an old friend of Pierre. Vasili Kuragin is a scheming nobleman who plots advantageous marriages for his children, the debauched and dashing Anatole and the beautiful but cold Helene. The Rostov family moves in similar social circles. Its patriarch, Count Rostov, is well meaning but bad with money. Middle daughter Natasha Rostov is an enchanting teenager on the verge of womanhood. Eldest brother Nikolai Rostov is an impetuous young man who dreams of joining the army. Their orphaned cousin Sonya also lives with the Rostov family.

Napoleon’s French army invades Austria. Russia, Austria’s ally, sends troops to halt the invasion. Andrei and Nikolai are both sent to the front. Andrei is wounded and presumed dead, but he manages to survive the chaos and travels home.

In Moscow, Pierre’s father legitimizes Pierre as his heir and dies—this means Pierre inherits his father’s vast fortune. He quickly becomes a very eligible bachelor, and Vasili convinces him to marry Helene. Pierre agrees, even though he does not love Helene. Later, rumors abound in the city that Helene is sleeping with another man. Pierre challenges the man, an experienced soldier named Dolokhov , to a duel. Against the odds, he wounds Dolokhov, but the victory does not satisfy him.

Andrei’s wife gives birth to a son while he is missing. He arrives home just in time to see her die in childbirth. His religious sister Marya helps raise the baby while Andrei goes into mourning. Searching for meaning in life, Pierre joins the Freemasons to learn about their beliefs and spirituality. When he applies the Freemasons’ teachings to the running of his estate, the results are disastrous. He meets with Andrei and talks about the matter but discovers that his old friend has become cold and distant.

The Rostovs struggle to maintain their fortune. Count Rostov spends more than he earns, and Nikolai accrues a huge gambling debt in a game of cards against Dolokhov. Nikolai’s family encourages him to marry a rich young woman, but he only thinks about the military. Also, he loves the penniless Sonya and feels obliged to marry her. While with the army, Nikolai sees Tsar Alexander and is inspired by the monarch. Natasha grows into a beautiful young woman. She attracts a great deal of attention, including that of Andrei Bolkonsky. Andrei considers marrying Natasha, but his father refuses to give his approval. He insists that Andrei wait a year before the wedding. Natasha reluctantly accepts these terms while Andrei leaves to travel through Europe. Natasha pines for her fiancé.

Andrei’s father grows old and irritable. He takes out his anger on Marya, who turns to her Christian beliefs to help her forgive his behavior. Natasha, still missing Andrei, meets Anatole Kuragin . She is very attracted to him, and he hatches a plot to elope with her. The plan fails, and Anatole is chased out of the city. Andrei returns from Europe. He is disgusted by Natasha’s behavior and rejects her. Pierre tries to console the heartbroken Natasha and falls in love with her. Natasha attempts suicide but survives, slowly recovering her health.

Napoleon invades Russia in 1812. Andrei returns to the military, while Pierre becomes obsessed with the idea that he will kill Napoleon. The French army marches relentlessly through Russia toward Moscow, burning and looting everything in its path. Marya pleads with her father to leave the family estate as the French army draws close. The shock of the situation kills him. Marya tries to flee, but the local serfs trap her. Nikolai Rostov passes through the area with his army unit and saves Marya. Romantic feelings develop between them.

The decimated Russian army fights back against the French but cannot hold back Napoleon’s forces for long. Even as the high society parties in Saint Petersburg continue, the French take Moscow and burn the evacuated city to the ground. However, lacking supplies and resources, the French army flees after five weeks. Pierre remains in Moscow to try to kill Napoleon. His wife arranges a divorce but dies before she can marry again. Andrei is mortally wounded in a battle. The fleeing Rostov family discovers him, and Natasha refuses to leave his side. She nurses Andrei back to health. French soldiers capture Pierre and throw him in jail. As the French army retreats, he is forced to march with them. He witnesses numerous executions and a great deal of suffering on the long march through the harsh Russian winter.

Nikolai still feels committed to Sonya. He knows his family needs money, but he cannot abandon his promise to marry her, even though he has fallen in love with the wealthy Marya Bolkonsky . Sonya sends him a letter, freeing him from his promise. Marya goes to the Rostovs to see her dying brother. Andrei reconciles with Natasha and dies.

The Russian army chases the French. In one skirmish, they free Russian prisoners, including Pierre. On the same day, the young Petya Rostov is killed in the fighting.

Pierre spends three months recovering from his experiences. He returns to Moscow and visits Marya and Natasha. Both women are mourning the deaths of Andrei and Petya. Pierre realizes his love for Natasha. Eventually, with Marya’s help, they agree to marry. They have children and raise a family. Nikolai marries Marya and rebuilds his family fortune. He devotes himself to the careful management of his estates and becomes obsessed with his new responsibilities. Andrei’s orphaned son lives with Nikolai and his aunt Marya. As he grows older, he sees Pierre as a hero. Pierre and Natasha visit Nikolai and Marya. The two families are close, even though Pierre and Nikolai disagree on political matters. The novel ends with the two families enjoying their newfound happiness.

In the last section of the novel, Tolstoy merges with his narrator as he explains his views about historiography. Breaking with the tradition of the time, he does not subscribe to the “great man” style of history—the idea that solitary exemplary individuals make most important historical events happen. Instead, as his novel has taken pains to show, he believes that history is the result of many small, random coincidences that build up to influence whether, for example, a battle is won or lost. This randomness is the result of free will.

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Tolstoy On War: Narrative Art and Historical Truth in “War and Peace”

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In 1812, Napoleon launched his fateful invasion of Russia. Five decades later, Leo Tolstoy published War and Peace , a fictional representation of the era that is one of the most celebrated novels in world literature. The novel contains a coherent (though much disputed) philosophy of history and portrays the history and military strategy of its time in a manner that offers lessons for the soldiers of today. To mark the two hundredth anniversary of the French invasion of Russia and acknowledge the importance of Tolstoy's novel for our historical memory of its central events, this book provides fresh readings of the novel. The chapters focus primarily on the novel's depictions of war and history, and the range of responses suggests that these remain inexhaustible topics of debate. The book aims to open fruitful new avenues of understanding War and Peace while providing a range of perspectives and interpretations without parallel in the vast literature on the novel.

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“War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Research Topics

Narrowing the topic, selecting the most interesting to one idea, picking up the literary period for the discussion, focusing on the particular topic, final essay: the evaluative analysis of the “war and peace” by leo tolstoy, works cited.

Looking for the interesting topics for the evaluative essay, one may suggest the list of the literary areas one is interested in:

• The World Literature’s masterpieces of the nineteenth – twentieth century (simply saying classics);
• The Native American legends and sagas and their contribution to the modern studies of the Native American’s culture and traditions;
• The American Literature of the twentieth century and the reflection of the daily life of the common Americans;
• The English literary thought of the medieval period and its impact on the studies of the Anglo – Saxon society’s development;
• The Australian native people’s folk tales, as the medium between the civilized parts of the country and its endangered territories;
• Japanese white verses and their ulterior wisdom

After regarding all of the above provided ideas for the essay, concerning the various literary areas, it is possible for one to focus one’s attention on the topic of the World Literature’s masterpieces of the nineteenth – twentieth century. Those works are generally called literary classics. With the view to narrow this topic, one may reveal one’s ideas as follows:

• English literary classics (novelists: Lewis Carroll; Anne, Charlotte and Emily Bronte; Charles Dickens, Jack London, Mark Twain);
• Russian literary classics (prose writers: Mikhail Bulgakov, Mikhail Sholokhov, Maxim Gorky, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Vladimir Nabokov; novelists: Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Nikolai Gogol; poets: Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Boris Pasternak, Vladimir Mayakovsky);
• Italian literary classics (novelists: Giorgio Bassani, Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Luigi Pirandello, Italo Calvino, and Giovanni Guareschi);
• French literary classics (novelists: Yann – Ber Kalloc’h, Onore De Balzac, Anjela Duval and Alexander Dumas);
• German literary classics (novelists: Friedrich Von Schiller; Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)

After picking up the most interesting idea from the above provided list, one may regard the topic of the Russian literary classics more deeply by the periods:

• Golden Era – Romanticism (Pushkin,Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy and Krylov);
• Silver Age (Blok, Esenin, Akhmatova, Mayakovsky, Bunin, Kuprin);
• Soviet era (Platonov, Gorky, Sholokhov, Aleksey Tolstoy, Tvardovsky, Ilf and Petrov, Bulgakov, Pasternak, Bunin, Solzhenitsyn)

One is really interested in the Colden Era of the Russian literary classics; therefore, it would be relevant to discuss this topic in details:

Poets: Zhukovsky, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Afanasij Fet, Evgeny Baratynsky, Nikolai Nekrasov, Konstantin Batyushkov, Fyodor Tyutchev, Aleksey Tolstoy;

Prose writers: Goncharov, Nikolai Gogol, Leskov, Saltykov – Shchedrin, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoevsky;

Fablulist: Ivan Krylov;

Nnon – fiction writers: Herzen and Belinsky;

Playwrights: Ostrovsky, Griboedov, Kozma Prutkov.

After the full and detailed research has been carried out, it is possible for one to bring up the topic of the given paper’s discussion. Thus, it might be suggested by one to discuss, analyze and evaluate the novel “War and Peace” (1863) by Leo Tolstoy.

The novel “War and Peace”, the masterpiece, written by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, is a fictional story based on the description of Russian society’s life during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. The novel covers the grand and the important subjects represented at its title – the subjects of the war and the peace, and that is why, although it tells the reader about the events of that period, it is still relevant to modern life, as those two major subjects still worry billions of reasonable people.

The work also discusses the themes of life and death; of the youth, age, and marriage; of the friendship and love; of the loyalty, dignity, and honor. Significantly, the book depicts the lives of the historical characters as well as the fictional ones. Those characters are not only Russians but also French, German, and other nationalities; most of them are introduced in the first volume of the book.

Although it might seem that there are too many characters in the novel but it focuses only on the life and the destiny of somewhere five characters, such an impression is wrong, as the book characters are profoundly linked with one another, and affect each other destinies all of a sudden. “War and Peace” is describing the life paths and interactions between such famous families and people as the counts Bezukhovs and Rostovs, the princes Bolkonskys, field marshal Kutuzov, and others. The novel describes the courage and the bravery not only of noble officers but also of the ordinary peasants (just remember how bravery prince Andrey and ordinary cannon – man fought against the French soldiers).

The given book describes the real friendship and disinterestedness between prince Andrey Bolkonsky and counts Pier Bezukhovs. Leo Tolstoy depicts this in the various episodes of the story; for example, when Pier came to Moscow from Paris everybody knew that he was the illegitimate child, and did not want to make friendship with him because of the gossips, but Andrey did not care about that because he liked Pier’s personal qualities and always supported him.

The novel also tells the reader about the complexities of love on the examples of Pier Bezukhov and his wife Helen (previously the theatre actress), Andrey Bolkonsky, and his young bride Natasha Rostova. Leo Tolstoy masterly described the ruff turns of fate like in the case of Anatol Kuragin’s not fair plans to Natasha and Helen’s lovers.

It is interesting to note that the author of the book Leo Tolstoy mixes French and Russian languages in his book, as the former one was very popular among that time Russian elite (there was an episode in the book, where the Russian noble had to higher the teacher to learn the Russian language). One may propose that the French language is used in the novel to express some gossips and insincere feelings, while the Russian language is a language of the soul of the character.

The main grand topics of the war and the peace discussed in the novel of the same name as well as the issues of the political power and thirst of this power (as in the case with Napoleon) are still relevant in modern life.

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.

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IvyPanda. (2021, September 30). “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy. https://ivypanda.com/essays/war-and-peace-by-leo-tolstoy/

"“War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy." IvyPanda , 30 Sept. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/war-and-peace-by-leo-tolstoy/.

IvyPanda . (2021) '“War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy'. 30 September.

IvyPanda . 2021. "“War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy." September 30, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/war-and-peace-by-leo-tolstoy/.

1. IvyPanda . "“War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy." September 30, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/war-and-peace-by-leo-tolstoy/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "“War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy." September 30, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/war-and-peace-by-leo-tolstoy/.