Select Page
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

War and Peace (1869) is one of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpieces of literary realism, detailing how Tsarist Russia must face the rise of the French emperor Napoléon, and how both halves of the title can complicate romantic love. The lives of five aristocratic Russian families intertwines French invasion looms and society in St. Petersburg struggles to continue despite the threat. Combining real wartime events, multiple love triangles, and themes of existentialism and betrayal, Tolstoy’s epic novel speaks to the endurance of these families and their continuation of the Russian lifestyle under siege.