War and Peace

Product Description Join us for what is considered by many to be the greatest novel ever written, an epic tale of the Napoleonic Wars and a celebration of the Russian spirit. This story tells, in graphic detail, the events surrounding the French invasion of Russia and the impact on society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian families. This is a spiritual quest for truth, conflict, love, birth, death, free will, and fate, with a huge cast of characters, spread out over a period of fifteen years. About the Author Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia, the fourth of five children. Leo's parents died when he was a child and he was raised by relatives. At the age of sixteen, he began studying law and Oriental languages at Kazan University, but dropped out. He joined the army in 1851, after running up large gambling debts. It was at this point that he started writing. In 1857, Tolstoy visited Paris and witnessed a public execution, which he found quite traumatic, causing him to develop a dislike and distrust of government. In 860, he met Victor Hugo and read "Les Miserables," which also shaped his writing. In 1862, Tolstoy married Sophia Andreevne Behrs and they had thirteen children. He also had a son with one of the servants on his estate before his marriage. Considered by some, including Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gustave Flaubert and his friend, Anton Chekhov, to be one of the greatest novelists of all time, he is known for multiple works, such as "War and Peace," "Anna Karenina," and "The Death of Ivan Ilych." In 1982, Tolstoy decided to give up his wealth and his family and become a wanderer. It was the middle of winter however, and he didn't make it very far. Falling ill at the train station, he was brought back to his home and died on November 20, 1910, in Astapovo, Russia, from pneumonia. Thousands of peasants lined the streets during his funeral procession.