War and Peace (Two Volumes) (Classic Translation)

"War and Peace" is a great work that took the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) 13 years to complete. In the history of world literature, it is the pinnacle of novels. Leo Tolstoy, who was born into a Russian aristocratic family, was the greatest Russian writer in the 19th century. He created a large number of literary works throughout his life and made unparalleled contributions to Russian and world literature. He is recognized as one of the most outstanding literary giants in the world. His three representative works: "War and Peace", "Resurrection" and "Anna Karenina". The creation of "War and Peace" took six years. After numerous revisions, it was not until the autumn of 1869 that this landmark work was completed. "War and Peace", a huge and magnificent palace of history and art, is completely built on a broad and solid foundation of life. It should be noted that Tolstoy was not only a participant in the two wars of the Caucasus and Crimea, but also a thinker of the upper class, an explorer of serf life and an innovator of school education, which opened up a broad world for his artistic creation. "War and Peace" centers on the Patriotic War in 1812, when Russia opposed Napoleon's invasion, and reflects a series of major historical events in Russia from 1805 to 1820. The novel begins with a debate in an aristocratic salon about Napoleon's invasion of Europe in 1805. It goes through the Battle of Schengraben where Russia blocked the French army, the Battle of Austerlitz where the Russian and Austrian forces fought Napoleon's army, and the French occupation of Moscow, the Battle of Borodino, the Great Fire of Moscow, and the complete collapse of Napoleon's army. The novel takes as its main line the chronicles of the family lives of four aristocratic families: Kuragin, Rostov, Bolkonsky and Bezhuhoff, and focuses on the fate and future of the Russian aristocracy. In the alternating scenes of war and peace, the entire work exposes the corruption of the palace bureaucracy and the upper-class nobility, praises the patriotism of the people, and raises many major social, philosophical and moral issues. "War and Peace" has a total of 559 characters, ranging from emperors, princes, diplomats, generals, and nobles; to landlords, businessmen, farmers, and soldiers. Such many characters are endowed with a new vision and color under the pen of an art master who is best at expressing the characters' psychology and personality traits. The heroes and heroines appear in front of readers with all the complexity and uniqueness of their spiritual lives.