War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale, chronicling the Napoleonic war in Russia and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature. It is considered as Tolstoy's finest literary achievement, along with his other major prose work, Anna Karenina.
The work chronicles the Napoleonic era within Russia, notably detailing the French invasion of Russia and its aftermath. The book highlights the impact of Napoleon on Tsarist society through five interlocking narratives following different Russian aristocratic families.
The novel was first published in its entirety in 1869. This edition was translated by Almeyer and Louise Maude and published 1923. Newsweek in 2009 ranked it first in its list of the Top 100 Books. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 20 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.
Audiobook read by Mark Nelson, running time 60 hours, 57 min. Unabridged full version. Also available as E-Book: ePUB, 566,135 words, average reading time 47 hours.
