Book description
A NEW TRANSLATION BY RICHARD PEVEAR AND LARISSA VOLOKHONSKY
Tolstoy's enthralling epic depicts Russia's war with Napoleon and
its effects on the lives of those caught up in the conflict. He
creates some of the most vital and involving characters in literature
as he follows the rise and fall of families in St Petersburg and
Moscow who are linked by their personal and political relationships.
His heroes are the thoughtful yet impulsive Pierre Bezukhov, his
ambitious friend, Prince Andrei, and the woman who becomes
indispensable to both of them, the enchanting Natasha Rostov.
Leo Tolstoy was born in central Russia on 9 September 1828. In
1852 he published his first work, the autobiographical
Childhood. He served in the army during the Crimean War and his
Sevastopol Sketches (1855-6) are based on his experiences.
His two most popular masterpieces are War and Peace (1864-69)
and Anna Karenina (1875-8). He died in 20 November 1910.
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have been nominated for the
PEN-Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize three times and have won
it twice. They live in Paris.
