Hailed as one of the greatest novels of all time and a classic of world literature, War and Peace unfolds in the early nineteenth century during the turbulent years of the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. Tolstoy's epic ranges from stirring depictions of historical events to intimate portraits of family life, moving between public spectacles and private lives to offer a tale of both panoramic scope and closely observed detail. From the breathless excitement of 16-year-old Natasha Rostov's first ball, to Prince Andrei Bolkonsky's epiphany on the battlefield at Austerlitz, the novel abounds in memorable incidents, particularly those involving Pierre Bezukhov. A seeker after moral and spiritual truths, Pierre and his search for life's deeper meaning stand at the heart of this monumental book. A tale of strivers in a world fraught with conflict, social and political change, and spiritual confusion, Tolstoy's magnificent work continues to entertain, enlighten, and inspire readers around the world. AUTHOR: Born into the Russian aristocracy, Count Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) achieved fame as a novelist, essayist, dramatist, and philosopher. His sprawling portraits of 19th-century Russian life, as recounted in Anna Karenina and War and Peace, constitute his best-known works. The spiritual awakening that Tolstoy experienced in the 1870s led to a fervent embrace of Christ's teachings, and his writings on the doctrine of nonviolent resistance influenced countless readers, including Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.