War and Peace

At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. In this book, the author entwines grand themes - conflict and love, birth and death, free will and faith - with unforgettable scenes of nineteenth-century Russia, to create a magnificent epic of human life in its imperfection and grandeur. A major new translation of the classic work interweaves the stories of an idealist, a cynical intellectual, and a count''s daughter against a backdrop of Napoleon''s invasion of Russia, in a volume that attempts to resolve ambiguities of other modern translations and is complemented by character listings, battle descriptions, and chapter summaries. Reprint.