
War and Peace, Book 10: 1812
by Leo Tolstoy
'War and Peace, Book 10: 1812' Summary
Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace chronicles the lives of five Russian aristocratic families during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Many considered this book to be the best Russian work of literature of all time and it is massive in scale. The book is divided in four volumes and the chapters don't just contain the narrative of the plot to the novel but philosophical discussions as well. This may be intimidating to average book readers but they shouldn't be discouraged to try reading War and Peace. After all, this book was written for all and not just for intellectuals.
The five wealthy families followed are the Bezukhovs, Bolkonskys, Rostovs, Kuragins and the Drubetskoys in the early 19th century especially during the time when Napoleon invaded Russia. Like with Tolstoy's other novels, it also tells about the different social problems in Russian high society like the fathering of illegitimate children of wealthy Russians, financial ruin of some families due to incompetence, their vanity despite the poverty which surrounds them and so on. The lives of the main characters from the different families are intertwined in the novel with friendships and conflicting interests.
War and Peace is also a historical novel. Napoleon himself is one of its main characters and a huge part of the book was about him. It's very impressive that Tolstoy was able to depict him very accurately in this novel. Besides him, Tolstoy was also very accurate about his descriptions of the historical events during that time like the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon's invasion of Moscow and others.
This book doesn't just narrate the trials, problems and conflicts between the different characters in the novel but also provides philosophical insights to historical events. It's always interesting to learn about history from another point of view not just from what was told in history books.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
Russian, with some French and GermanPublished In
1869Authors

Leo Tolstoy
Russia
Leo Tolstoy was a significant figure in Russian literature, known for his novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina." These works are celebrated examples of realist fiction, examining human experience...
Books by Leo TolstoyDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

War and Peace, Book 13: 1812 by Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published serially, then published in its entirety in 1869. It is regarded as one of...

Señor de Bembibre by Enrique Gil y Carrasco
Don Álvaro, the lord of Bembibre, is deeply in love with Doña Beatriz, the daughter of Don Alonso, the lord of Arganza. However, Don Alonso has alread...

Cañas y barro by Vicente Blasco Ibanez
Cañas y Barro is a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, set in the picturesque region of La Albufera, a lagoon near Valencia, Spain. It follows the lives o...

Pierre & Jean by Guy de Maupassant
In the small town of Le Havre, France, the Lebras family is thrown into turmoil when the patriarch of the family dies and leaves his entire fortune to...

Crevice by William J. Burns
The Crevice delves into the shadowy world of financial intrigue and deception, where the death of a prominent financier, Pennington Lawton, throws his...

Portrait of a Lady, Volume 1 by Henry James
The Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880-1881 and then a...

Testament van mevrouw De Tonnette by Gerard Keller
Het Testament van mevrouw De Tonnette is een lichtvoetige roman uit de 19e eeuw, die draait om een rijke weduwe die haar fortuin wil nalaten aan een a...

Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy
Desperate Remedies explores the complexities of love, duty, and social constraints in Victorian England. Cytherea Graye, a young woman of humble origi...

Antonia by George Sand
Will love conquer all? An entertaining novel of growth in light of societal pressures of propriety, finance and inheritance of 19th century France. In...

Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon
Brewster's Millions is a comedic novel written by George Barr McCutcheon in 1902, originally under the pseudonym of Richard Greaves. It was adapted in...
Reviews for War and Peace, Book 10: 1812
No reviews posted or approved, yet...