Authored by Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace is a Russian novel which is one of the finest works of fiction. It is also one of the greatest achievements of Tolstoy in literature. The novel defines the events that led to invasion of Russia from Napoleon’s army and the further effects of Napoleonic era on the Russian empire and the society in a graphical way. These events in the story have been shown by Tolstoy through the eyes of 5 aristocratic families in Russia. Some parts of this novel were published in the magazine, The Russian Messenger in between the years 1865 and 1867. As an entire book, the novel was published in the year 1869. War and Peace has been ranked by Newsweek among the “Top 100 Books” in its list of 2009.
The novel is indeed a long compilation of 4 volumes that are subdivided in the novel itself. Each of these volumes contain sub-parts with many several chapters in them. Tolstoy started the writing part of the novel in the year when he was married and had settled down at his estate. Tolstoy has acknowledged Schopenhauer, a German philosopher, as being a chief inspiration to write War and Peace. The views about history and the roles performed by individuals in it have been developed by Tolstoy on his own. This work from Tolstoy can be termed as historical fiction as well. It has many elements that are present in different types of literature that became popular in 18th and 19th century. The novel has attained such a status in literature because of its excellent genres. The novel has a new consciousness brought about by the writer in his writing. An extensive research has been done by the writer in order to compile this work of excellence. Himself being a Veteran of the Crimean War, Tolstoy has been very particular regarding the military history standards in the book. The novel is set 60 years before the times of Tolstoy. He had personally spoken to many people who were witnesses of the war that had taken place in Russia in the year 1812. Besides that, he also read many journals, autobiographies and biographies of characters such as Napoleon and others along with some letters that he came across.
Written in a brilliant manner, War and Peace is a novel which is a part of the best literary works. The knowledge about history, extensive research, the story along with the enticing flow of events makes this novel one of the all time classic novels.
